Warframe+(Jared)


 * //(4 points)// A brief description of the game. You may include images or even video clips to help give readers a better idea of the game.

Warframe is a Massively Multiplayer Online Third person shooter. It is a very customizable game that allows players to buy or build different types of guns, melee weapons and even classes. There are also many ways to upgrade ones character in a number of different ways that suit their playstyle. The game is primarily a player versus environment game, while there is also a small player versus player mode. There is a main quest line that players may follow, while they may also explore other missions at their will. Players are equipped with a pistol, a main (larger) gun, and a melee weapon, such as a sword. Only one of these items may be in a player's hands at a time and the player must get accustomed to switching between them.

Here is a short gameplay trailer: //https://youtu.be/gh_1FveRn_8?list=PLDmrv5FhAWj_bJMD0XOpXLrfc74HZnFsB//

The tutorial part of the game is somewhat short, it brought about challenges and then told the player which buttons to hit in order to overcome them in a span of about ten minutes. For someone who has played shooting games or even MMOs in the past, this buttons were either straight forward or very similar to any game in that genre. Despite the short tutorial, the game also offers a few main questline missions, which serve as further tutorials that explain how to upgrade, buy or build new weapons, armor, modifications and classes. Because these aspects of the game were more nuanced and different than many “typical” shooter games, they each had their own optional explanation tutorial of how to use each of these aspects. In order to be successful one needed to know how and when to switch weapons and which weapons work best in each situation. One also needed to learn how to simetaneously use several buttons at once in order to do slightly more difficult tasks, such as using: sliding, jump attacks, climbing walls and other special moves that were not so intuitive.
 * //(5 points)// The kinds of learning involved (i.e. What specifically did you learn from playing the game?). Think about the game tasks, objectives, terminology, etc. What skills did you need to learn to be successful at the game?

The game gives several types of rewards. There is a currency aspect, known as credits, which are used to pay for upgrades or make purchases. From each mission, a player can expect to receive an approximate amount of credits. As well, as credits, there are also random drops, some are modifications, which make weapons or classes stronger in a specific way. There are also random materials that drop which help to build or upgrade certain weapons or classes. A final type of reward system that the game utilizes is that the game allows the player to level up both their class as well as each weapon they use. This is done by using the class or weapon during a mission in order to obtain experience towards these levels. Along these lines, there is also an overall rank which one can level up in order to obtain higher level items or classes. In order to receive these rank ups, the player must complete a time challenge, which can only be attempted once every 24 hours. Another way the game taught me was how to fight and in which circumstances to use which weapons. For example, akin, to a Halo game, the player has both a health bar as well as a shield bar. This taught me that I should not simply charge through each level as quickly as possible because the shield would regenerate after not taking damage for a certain amount of time. It also taught me to be more cautious when my shield got low because the health bar does not regenerate when lost. I also learned that some weapons were safer to use than others. For example, if the player has a regular weapon out, they cannot block attacks, however, if the player has a melee weapon in their hand, they can block shot from enemies they are facing. Therefore, I was more likely to use and run through the missions with my melee weapon out because this was the safest option. The game also taught me to want to use the melee weapon because I already have the preconceived notion that I am not very talented at first-person shooter games, much like Gee discussed in chapter 3. Therefore, because the melee weapons are both safer and take less skill to use to defeat an enemy as would a gun (because you don't have to accurately aim them), the game and my own personal identity and interaction with the game taught me to want to use the melee weapons in most situations. When looking up information on the game from the online community, I discovered that there is an informative website hosted by the game designers, which offers explanations of most of the aspects of the game. Within this website, there is also a forum section, which is utilized much like most online gaming communities that I have experienced, where players ask one another questions or make points that are then answered or discussed. This can be a great strength for beginners to understand some key concepts as well as obtain hints and understand how many players customize their characters to be most effective. As noted above, I generally shy away from First- or Third-person shooters because they are intimidating and the learning curve can be especially high and frustrating. As an adult, I no longer have the time or desire to spend the amount of time to get as good at these games as many other online players do. Despite these preconceived notions, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. The first and main reason for this was because the game is primarily cooperative and a player must not participate in the player versus player aspect in order to fully experience the game. The player versus player aspect is the main reason that I tend to shy away from these types of games, as games such as Call of Duty or Counterstrike are nearly fully focused on player versus player, which as noted, takes time to get to a level where I do not get frustrated because I would die repeatedly. The second reason that I enjoyed the game so thoroughly was because the game offers so much customization. Too often, I had experienced shooting games where the only customization had been which gun you happened to pick up. In this game, however, I was able to choose how to modify my player, class and weapons. I am also able to build a class that suits my play style as each class has unique stats and abilities. I realize that this is one of my favorite parts in playing games, because I like to be unique. When Gee was describing his experience playing Arcanum, I realized that customizability is one of the main things that draws me to play and continue to play video games. I particularly like games that have a wide variety of options on how to accomplish tasks that do not limit my creativity based on necessity. For example, I was able to fully complete a mission only using a melee weapon because that is how I wanted to play it. While some of the parts of the mission may have been slightly more difficult than using a gun, I did not feel an overwhelming hindrance for making that choice, as is often the case in many games.
 * //(5 points)// The kinds of teaching involved (i.e. How did the game teach you?). Think about the kinds of feedback, rewards, guidance, and information the game gave you, and how it paced and structured your learning. Which Principles of Learning did the game utilize?
 * //(3 points)// A brief description of the kinds (and quantity) of online sites, forums, wikis, etc. devoted to the game. What game activities (e.g. walk-thoughs/guides, databases, cheats, theorycrafting, modding, etc.) are most-commonly discussed?
 * //(3 points)// Your overall reflections on playing the game.