The developers of Warframe (PC, PS4, Xbox) reflected on their largest expansion to date, Plains of Eidolon, and discussed successes and challenges. Digital Extremes (DE) believes that new players would be lost without the veteran community.
Warframe recently released its largest expansion yet: Plains of Eidolon. Community Manager Rebecca Ford spoke in an interview with PCGamer about the DLC. Digital Extremes is pleased that the new open-world map has attracted so many new players. Overall, Plains of Eidolon has been well received and has given Warframe a significant boost.
However, players also expressed critical feedback to Digital Extremes: Especially the economy and rewards on the Plains have been viewed negatively by the community.
Additionally, the studio is aware that Plains of Eidolon can be extremely overwhelming for new players. The developers are grateful that veterans catch the newcomers and keep them from “drowning.”
Veterans and newcomers react differently to Plains of Eidolon
The player feedback on Plains of Eidolon varied. Newcomers have mainly shown two reactions:
- That’s not an open world! or
- What am I even supposed to do here?
Plains of Eidolon is referred to as an open world map. In the context of Warframe, this makes sense, as missions are usually completed in a strict pattern. In Plains of Eidolon, players can wander freely as they please. For example, a popular sport in the Plains is fishing or rather harpooning.
For veterans, it certainly makes sense that the new freedom in the Plains feels like an open world to them. Digital Extremes noticed that veterans race through the new content extremely quickly. The developers feel there is a strong appetite for the Plains among these players – they have never been able to play Warframe in this way before.
New players often seem overwhelmed by the amount of content and don’t know where to start.
Without the community, Digital Extremes would struggle to catch new players
It is already difficult for new players to get a foothold in Warframe, as they receive little guidance within the game. The new possibilities that Plains of Eidolon offers exacerbate this issue. The Plains can be reached early in the game, as they are located on the starting planet Earth.
According to Rebecca Ford, it was a risk to send new players to the Plains so early. However, the developers mostly relied on their functioning community.
Rebecca Ford, Community Manager: “We need to ask ourselves how we can ensure that players don’t feel like they are drowning when they’ve never been taught to swim. […] If our community didn’t help new players, we would have a much harder time. Fortunately, we have a really helpful community – but of course it’s our responsibility to make players feel like they know what they’re doing.”
Economy and freedom are a problem in the Plains – Digital Extremes finds the criticism justified
Digital has received primarily two negative criticisms regarding Plains of Eidolon:
- The economy and rewards are not yet right:
- In the Plains of Eidolon, players face high grind, and many found the rewards insufficient. The “value for money” felt poor. Digital Extremes has already released some hotfixes with minor patches, and the bounty system will also be adjusted.
- Players are “too free” in the Plains, limiting others at times:
- The biggest problem Digital Extremes sees, however, is the freedoms given to players. This sounds confusing at first, as it was supposed to be an open-world map. Missions in Warframe can be completed in a group of up to 4 players. Especially in the Plains, they depend on a group. Groups of random players often encounter conflicts of interest. One player may just want to quickly gather some resources, while another wants to spend hours fishing. Now the one who just wanted a few items quickly is tied to the eternal fisherman and has to wait.
Digital Extremes finds these points of criticism justified and is considering solutions now.
There will be more open-world maps in Warframe
Rebecca Ford revealed that Digital Extremes definitely wants more open-world areas in Warframe. The criticism may have been mixed, and not everyone was satisfied with Plains of Eidolon.
However, Digital Extremes got the impression that it simply felt fantastic for veterans to finally be outside. This is something different than just following linear corridors in spaceships.
However, the Plains of Eidolon will still be expanded and revised first. Soon, a giant enemy, larger than the Teralyst, should come to the Plains.
