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The popular online game known as Warframe, a title where you might encounter bizarre cosmic entities and drive a motorcycle in the year 1999, has released a major update. This latest expansion exemplifies the distinctive charm that has come to define Warframe in recent years.

This expansion, released on Wednesday, introduces a fungus-inspired character that does a little dance, along with a whole new explorable fungal area. However, it also revisits core concepts, with another quest geared at making sure this complex, vast long-running online game is understandable by new players.

The Arrival of "The Teacher"

Named “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 added to your character or your weapons to enhance their abilities. They range from the straightforward (increase damage or speed up reload rate) to the incredibly intricate. Dedicated players often craft hour-long videos about idealized builds that use synergistic enhancements to create overwhelming power.

“I think a lot of people were maybe getting into the early game, seeing mods, not really understanding it,” said a key developer. “We believed it was crucial, upon completing the mission, for players to think, ‘Wow, modding is interesting. I want to try more of this.’”

A Collaborative Effort

“The Teacher” was developed in a collaboration between the core team, who provided the narrative sauce, and an external team, who designed the mission, which will be introduced to new players.

In the quest, the player is asked to retrieve a new segment for their spaceship, but they’re interrupted by a menacing, powerful warrior called Teshin, who takes away the player’s abilities and melee weapons, and compels them to use the mod system to handily demonstrate its power.

Many of the external team were already fans of the game, but others had never played before, according to a principal games designer. It was this outside perspective that proved critical.

“Our initial step involved observing new players and have them experience the introduction and document extensively on everywhere they fell out,” the designer said. Early-game menu pop-ups introduced players to modding. But the team noted that they didn’t work on everyone.

“Certain players missed fundamental guidance where the game highlights it saying equip the modification,” he said.

Closing an Important Loop

Warframe’s mods allow players to create incredibly strong combinations that fill the display with damage values. But "The Teacher" isn’t really about that. Veteran users who wish the quest was geared more towards their needs, like optimizing for endgame challenges. But it became clear that the mission addresses a genuine oversight for early players — and that doing so isn’t as simple as it looks.

“There’s lots of little tweaks and little subtle things in the background there to just sort of show you what it can do rather than explain it outright,” the designer said. For example, one of the mission's objectives 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 better demonstrates the effect frequency,” the designer said. “However, the goal isn't to say to people, 'oh yeah, actually on a base level mod, you only got a low probability to proc an elemental effect.' How can you teach this mechanic effectively?”

Veterans will naturally recognize these mechanics and grasp their function, but new players have to be taught to pay attention to these things.

“This type of design work that we previously focused on just because that hasn't been our focus,” said a narrative lead. “But part of it not being our focus that we never really told people how to use mods.”

A Labor of Love

“A tremendous amount of work is required for just making a seemingly straightforward quest that — honestly — you can complete quickly,” said the designer. “But it's months and months of work for loads of people.”

The designer was visibly glowing with excitement over contributing to a beloved title — and to design content featuring a preferred figure.

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

An Evolving Onboarding Process

In the 12 years since its release, Warframe has been in a ongoing struggle with its own new user introduction. There are many intricate mechanics that players can ignore initially — and won’t even have access to until much later. And others, like modding, that increase in depth depending on how much time you want to invest. An update earlier this year streamlined the early game 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 reinforcing their dedication to make sure Warframe’s early game experience doesn’t stay locked in 2013. New players can get their foot in the door — even if they miss the menu prompts.