Why Is Warframe Still Active?
Although Warframe has been out for almost 10 years, the fanbase is what keeps it vibrant. What is it about MMOs that keep people coming back for more? Grinding, more grinding, looting, figuring out new ways to play the game, the lore? Warframe is one of those few games that can truly say it has stayed alive because of its dedicated fan base. A small company from Canada has created a game big enough to gather thousands of people in their TennoCon with thousands of yearly visitors for 6 years! Warframe is one of the strongest community driven games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing.
Without a huge parent company it has been a shocker to learn that Warframe has been in the business for so long. Knowing about small Indie games that never fit the cut, Warframe has become an example in its field. An Indie game that was able to garner money and attention? That’s something you don’t hear every day. That said, Warframe’s developers have worked hard to have a strong community and it has paid off.
Warframe Community
Delving a little deeper in the video game, you are quick to find out that it is not an easy MMO to learn. Although MMOs do generally have a bigger learning curve, Warframe is one of those that stump you right as you start. So, how do people stick around with so much information? Easy. The Warframe community is in constant communication with the development team. The “Devs” often do personalized streams with their fanbase through Twitch. During these streams they showcase new content, playthroughs, even things that haven’t been released yet. All this just to keep up a good raport with their players.
Even if every day we see more and more video games turning to micro-transactions, Warframe has been able to stay ahead of the game in actually having people willing to pay for their products. As an MMO, one would think: “Oh, maybe it’s because you pay to win.” No, in reality most of the purchases are cosmetic or don’t really help you progress the game at all. Understanding this is one of the key differences Warframe has with many other AAA video games: They listen and interact with their players.
I have never encountered such a strong community in all my time playing video games. Games like League of Legends and World of Warcraft are some of the biggest in the industry, but always seem to have more than a few toxic players that are less willing to help than they are to help you out. However, within Warframe’s community, there seems to be nothing but positivity. People are more willing to help each other and I believe this is because of the Development’s pull with their fanbase. It is not unheard of for developers to jump in a public area and start asking questions within the game. It is very common knowledge, also, that players sometimes even become part of the art team. What company that you know has gone to such lengths to please their player base? I don’t know many, and the ones that have are always revered by their fans.
With the new Heart of Deimos update, TennoCon was a live stream that garnered over 100k viewers on Twitch. They showcased the new content, old content that was revised, and they established the real link between developers and players. Making their players happy has been one of their most important moves within the gaming industry. This includes being able to listen to some very critical feedback on their content and game mechanics. Warframe developers are one of a kind and I believe that they not only carry the essence of video gaming development but have made the best of it for everyone else.
