More Warframe
There's a definite appeal to the "building up" portion of games. It's often perceived as integral in RPGs (though you could have a roleplaying game without advancement). It draws players in for strategy and survival games. It's there in mobile gacha games. And yeah, I kind of love it.
It can only last so long, though. Either you reach a point of equilibrium. In survival games, you reach a point where resources aren't so much of an issue. In a strategy game, the building up and advancing slows and is replaced by war with neighbors. In an RPG, you reach a cap of levels and gear. Or the game scales with you, in which you may be able to advanced "infinitely," but it doesn't matter because the opposition advances with you.
I'm approaching 200 hours in Warframe, and I haven't actually hit that moment yet. I've run into a few "soft" roadblocks that blocked progression for a few days while I had to build up. I've now made it through 80+ percent of the star map. And yet, depending on what mission I select, I can still run through things almost laughably easy or impossibly difficult. There's probably still an "end point," especially given I mostly play solo, but I haven't seen it yet.
After staring at things in the shop that are either available for platinum (real money or traded) or crafted in a clan dojo, I decided to just up and make a clan myself. Now, that's not necessarily "cheap" or fast as a solo player, but it opens up a ton of stuff without requiring any real money purchases. I've got the research rooms at this point, and I've unlocked a few things I wanted to see with more on the way. It can take a lot of resources, but the allure of "advancement" is still there. Though really a lot of that is more lateral than anything, unlocking new and different weapons/warframes/etc. than stuff that is inherently better. I probably could have found a clan to join that already had all that done, but... nah!
Many hours, and I'm still primarily using one warframe that I got via free promotion. Frost Prime is a solid, tanky unit with an awesome ability to put up a defensive bubble. This is ideal for any mission involving defending a point. I started with Excalibur, which seems an okay all-round/melee-focused warframe. I am still leveling Ivara, a frail frame with strong stealth abilities. I think I'll like Ivara more when its built up better with more energy/efficiency so the stealth is more useful. I've got another tanky frame, Rhino, under construction. All of these offer a new set of abilities to learn and use. And that's not getting into weapons.
It has been and continues to be solid entertainment for me. I did spend $25 at one point while I had a platinum booster bonus active, so I've spent some real money for I think it was around 1000 platinum. Of that, I think I'm still sitting on 650+. Really, though, that was almost as much a vote of "I think this game is worth some of my money" as because I desperately wanted some in-game item or to speed something up. I've gotten more out of the game than many $60 releases. And while it's pretty light on story, it hits enough of my "like" buttons that I think it's pretty great.
It can only last so long, though. Either you reach a point of equilibrium. In survival games, you reach a point where resources aren't so much of an issue. In a strategy game, the building up and advancing slows and is replaced by war with neighbors. In an RPG, you reach a cap of levels and gear. Or the game scales with you, in which you may be able to advanced "infinitely," but it doesn't matter because the opposition advances with you.
I'm approaching 200 hours in Warframe, and I haven't actually hit that moment yet. I've run into a few "soft" roadblocks that blocked progression for a few days while I had to build up. I've now made it through 80+ percent of the star map. And yet, depending on what mission I select, I can still run through things almost laughably easy or impossibly difficult. There's probably still an "end point," especially given I mostly play solo, but I haven't seen it yet.
After staring at things in the shop that are either available for platinum (real money or traded) or crafted in a clan dojo, I decided to just up and make a clan myself. Now, that's not necessarily "cheap" or fast as a solo player, but it opens up a ton of stuff without requiring any real money purchases. I've got the research rooms at this point, and I've unlocked a few things I wanted to see with more on the way. It can take a lot of resources, but the allure of "advancement" is still there. Though really a lot of that is more lateral than anything, unlocking new and different weapons/warframes/etc. than stuff that is inherently better. I probably could have found a clan to join that already had all that done, but... nah!
Many hours, and I'm still primarily using one warframe that I got via free promotion. Frost Prime is a solid, tanky unit with an awesome ability to put up a defensive bubble. This is ideal for any mission involving defending a point. I started with Excalibur, which seems an okay all-round/melee-focused warframe. I am still leveling Ivara, a frail frame with strong stealth abilities. I think I'll like Ivara more when its built up better with more energy/efficiency so the stealth is more useful. I've got another tanky frame, Rhino, under construction. All of these offer a new set of abilities to learn and use. And that's not getting into weapons.
It has been and continues to be solid entertainment for me. I did spend $25 at one point while I had a platinum booster bonus active, so I've spent some real money for I think it was around 1000 platinum. Of that, I think I'm still sitting on 650+. Really, though, that was almost as much a vote of "I think this game is worth some of my money" as because I desperately wanted some in-game item or to speed something up. I've gotten more out of the game than many $60 releases. And while it's pretty light on story, it hits enough of my "like" buttons that I think it's pretty great.
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