#tenno

Oh no, I've got the bug. Yeah, since my last post about Warframe, I've completely fallen down the rabbit hole. I think part of that is largely down to the quality of life updates it has had over the years since I first tried it, but it is also down to a new appreciation of the visual aesthetic, as well as a better understanding of how to actually get my hands on the warframes I actually want.

Admittedly, in at least one case, that has been trading for it lol. At any rate, since I last posted, a fair bit has happened - I've managed to clear the main story quests for what the wiki deems as "Act 1", and now am on to act two, which apparently involves getting to Uranus (which I have mentally been pronouncing Oranis, because I want to re-read the Old Kingdom Trilogy). My little tenno Evey has just made it to Saturn, so it's now not far off!

so, some thoughts now that I'm a good 10-15 hours in; Once you get the hang of moving around it really does make it a hell of a lot easier to play. I do still find the repetition of dungeons to be a little annoying, but I'm aware that comes from playing mostly rpgs where you usually spend at least half an hour in a dungeon, as opposed to the 5 minute runs more common in warframe. I will also say that it is kind of annoying that the vast majority of frames involve a lot of grind, or are locked off to (from the perspective of a new player) really high level areas; For example, one of the frames I desperately wanted to get my hands on is Titania, specifically Titania prime (what can I say, I like fairies as well as mermaids lol). I was initially going to wait until I got to doing "The Second Dream" quest everyone keeps talking about, but after finding out the frame is no longer readily available in game I just went ahead and traded for the set, which is now merrily being made in the foundry.

But that's about it for the negatives, I have actually been having a lot of fun playing! Nabbing the free Dante did go a way towards that, playing havoc with magic spells has always been one of my favourite pasttimes lol. Getting the Archwing was also awesome, getting to zoom around on mechanical wings is so much fun, and you get to see so much more of the world, and it's really cool that the devs have actually gone to the effort to make a world that is worth traversing from the air. I'm also liking how the story is progressing, this slow unfolding of who and what the Tenno really are. I get that they're kind of... spirit driven robots? judging from what happens on Deimos, it certainly seems like that's the explination as to why their conciousness can jump from machine to machine, but what's behind that conciousness still seems to be a bit of a mystery. Presumably they are some flavour of human, but I don't actually know yet. I did spot that a lot of the warframes have human skin options, which presumably is the person each individual frame is based on, but not the spirit or mind or whatever actually piloting them?

I did start thinking about what Evey might look like as a human, and I may end up drawing them sometime. Which reminds me, I've been bitten by the drawing bug and have resolved to (at the very least) draw an updated verson of them every time I get a warframe that I really like using, but I've also been contemplating drawing every warframe I get access to; I dunno if that would be something people would be interested in, but I have been thinking of streaming said drawing sessions. I'll have a think about it.

So as per my last post, I recently picked up WARFRAME again after having not played it for several years. I think I first got it pretty early on, my account wasn't linked to steam, and I have a recollection that one of the main reasons I stopped playing was that I was encountering a glitch where I had to constantly uninstall and reinstall the game in order to play it. Added in to the equation is also the fact that I wasn't really that interested in Sci-Fi, having always been more of a fantasy person.

However, I've recently been getting really into Sci-Fi, partly through work and partly through being made to watch all of Star Trek (Deanna Troi is a QUEEN) and so decided to pick the game up again. Now, unfortunately, I don't really remember much of the game, and I know that there was at least one huge overhaul whilst I was playing, and as it's an MMO you can't really start over from scratch very easily, but I could remember enough about the story to jump back in.

I have to admit I'm enjoying it a lot more this time round. I think part of that is down to having more of an appreciation for the aesthetics of the game; As an artist, a game's looks are a really big component of whether or not I'm going to like something. All the gameplay in the world won't make me invested if I find a game's appearance grating. I have to admit, part of it is because I have my eye on a couple of specific frames I want to get my hands on, and like I said in my last WARFRAME post, I'll probably end up grabbing them from the player market as I think most of them are pretty end game items (Wisp in particular is at the top of my list, I love a bit of floaty-ness)

I think another thing that maybe dissuaded me originally was feeling a lack of character creation / individuality. As all the players have preselected warframes rather than an individual character, it felt a bit weird to be running around and seeing half a dozen other players with the exact same character. I do understand it more now, as the frames are supposed to be like mechanical armour for spirits (I think? At least that's the kind of vibe I get), but I think a big part of why I'm now more invested is that I simply made an idea for who my Tenno is, even if it's not something reflected in-game. I also am keeping the idea that the Tenno has a sort of... base body, that the other frames are built around.

Enter Evey. I imagine they have no recollection of who they are, outside of their name. Having been dropped into this world with little to no information, the first few skirmishes with the Grineer, as well as the wild planes of the Earth of the far future, I feel that Evey would be just as lost and confused by the whole thing as I am. However, Evey has an innate desire to help others, and after battling their way off Earth and arriving on Venus, the plight of the Solari would absolutely pull on their heartstrings and give them a much sharper focus on what their purpose is. After aiding the Solari and re-establishing the Vox Solaris, Evey returns to Earth to aid the population there against the Grineer. Evey's eyes also turn to elsewhere in the solar system; after finishing their work on Earth, the next destination will be Mercury.

I'll probably post updates here and there about my progress, but like I said, so far I'm enjoying the game much more than I did the first time round. I still need to get the hang of a lot of the crafting and modding mechanics, but I'm getting there slowly! Anyway, I'm part way through the "Saya's Vigil" quest, after which I apparently have some sort of animal companion to find? I also want to try and get another frame, though I do know that there's going to be a twitch stream on this coming Saturday (my time) that gives players the Dante frame, so I'll keep an eye out for that, even if it means waking up really early!