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The space ninja adventure known as Warframe, a title where you might encounter bizarre cosmic entities and pilot futuristic vehicles, has launched a significant update. This latest expansion showcases the creative flair that has become synonymous with Warframe in recent years.

The new content, released on Wednesday, introduces a fungus-inspired character that performs a unique animation, along with a brand-new biome to discover. But it’s also going back to basics, with another quest geared at making sure this complicated, expansive long-running online game is understandable by new players.

The Arrival of "The Teacher"

Titled “The Teacher,” this is the highly anticipated mission that instructs Warframe players on how to use one of the game's most basic — yet most intricate systems: modding.

In Warframe, modifications are enhancements that can be equipped on your warframe or arsenal to enhance their abilities. These can be simple (boosting power or shortening reload times) to the devastatingly complex. Content creators often craft hour-long videos about idealized builds that use powerful mods in combination to create devastating effects.

“I think a lot of people were maybe getting into the early game, encountering mods without grasping their purpose,” said a key developer. “We believed it was crucial, upon completing the mission, for players to think, ‘Hey, modding is cool. I'd like to experiment further.’”

A Joint Development

“The Teacher” was created through a partnership between the original developers, who provided the narrative sauce, and an external team, who designed the mission, which will appear early in the game.

In the quest, the player is asked to retrieve a new segment for their spaceship, but they’re confronted by a formidable foe called Teshin, who takes away the player’s abilities and close-combat arms, and forces them to engage with the mod system to effectively show its potential.

Several developers were already fans of the game, but others had never played before, according to a principal games designer. It was this outside perspective that was essential.

“The first thing we did was basically sit behind them and go right play through the tutorial and take prodigious notes on everywhere they fell out,” the designer said. Introductory tutorials introduced players to modding. But the team noted that they didn’t work on everyone.

“Certain players missed fundamental guidance where it's flashing on the screen saying put the mod in the slot,” he said.

Closing an Important Loop

Warframe’s mods allow players to create incredibly strong combinations that turn the screen into a blitz of numbers. But "The Teacher" isn’t really about that. There will be some long-time players who wish the quest was geared more towards their needs, like optimizing for endgame challenges. But it became clear that “The Teacher” is filling a real and significant gap for early players — and that doing so isn’t as simple as it looks.

“Numerous subtle adjustments and little subtle things in the background there to just demonstrate the possibilities rather than explain it outright,” the designer said. For example, one of the goals of “The Teacher” is to show how mods can create elemental damage types; in this case, Magnetic damage that eats chunks out of enemy shields.

“Adjustments to the armament to be a burst-fire weapon, because it shows off the proc rate more,” the designer said. “But you don’t want to say to people, 'oh yeah, actually on a base level mod, you only got a few percentage chance to proc an elemental effect.' How can you teach this mechanic effectively?”

Veterans will naturally recognize these mechanics and understand how it works, but beginners require instruction to pay attention to these things.

“It’s not a kind of game development that we previously focused on just because that hasn't been our focus,” said a story developer. “However, this oversight meant that players weren't properly taught the modding system.”

A Labor of Love

“There’s so much that goes into just making a seemingly straightforward quest that — frankly — you can blast through in about 15 minutes,” said the designer. “Yet it represents extensive development for many team members.”

The designer was clearly enthusiastic over being able to work on a game that he loves — and to design content featuring a preferred figure.

“I love Teshin,” he said. “He embodies everything my younger self found awesome.”

Improving the New Player Experience

In the decade-plus since launch, Warframe has been in a consistent battle with its own player onboarding process. There are lots of complex systems that players don’t need to worry about — and won’t even have access to until much later. And others, like modding, that increase in depth depending on your level of engagement. An update earlier this year improved the introductory experience so that players could reach Warframe’s mind-bending plot developments with less time on the grind up front.

With “The Teacher,” it’s clear that the developers are doubling down on a commitment to make sure Warframe’s early game experience evolves beyond its origins. Beginners can find their way — regardless of overlooking tutorials.