After the most recent update, many players were reporting that they had been experiencing longer loading screens between missions. The official forums, a hub of thoughtful and insightful discussion, was overrun by entitled players both boasting of their expensive hardware and rioting over the increased loading times. Many players hypothesized over what could have possibly caused the exponential increase in loading times. Some claimed it must be related to new infrastructure being laid down for further improvements to the game whilst others ranted on about poor optimization practices. It was not until late last afternoon that [DE]Glen cleared the air on the matter.

“As part of my ongoing process of going through the new player experience on the Casual Carousel stream, I noticed many issues with the game’s design on the early stages.” said [DE]Glen, Chief Loading Screen Engineer at Digital Extremes. “The most glaring issue being that so much time was spent on the Orbiter or in the mission that players do not have the chance to enjoy their Landing Crafts during the loading screen.”

Warframe’s most recent patch also included some of these changes in their preliminary state for stress testing with players on the PC version of the game, though they had gone undocumented originally. After [DE]Glen spilled the beans on the matter, an addendum was made to the patch notes by DERebecca:

“Feature Preview: Your loading screens will now be affected by the distance between your Orbiter and the selected mission.”

Loading screens now have a guaranteed minimum duration of 30 seconds and an expected average around 100 seconds. Your Orbiter will always stay near the general navigational node you selected. For example, after completing a mission on Earth such as Cambria, it will only take you an expected 42 seconds to reach E Prime. Failing or aborting a mission will trigger an emergency evacuation for your Orbiter. The Orbiter will retreat into the Void which will add anywhere between 90 and 220 seconds to your next mission’s loading time.

Further improvements will include adding UI functionality to the loading screens to allow players to monitor their progress between the Orbiter and their selected mission, purchase Platinum or Prime Access, as well as purchasing the latest items available on the market.

“Our internal testing team responded really well to the additional immersion elements the longer loading screens are providing.” replied DE_Steve when asked how he expected players to react to the longer pauses between action. “Many players actively look for new and exciting ways to AFK through the game and I think we’ve managed to deliver in a big way.”

When asked if chat systems would become available during loading screens to help pass the time, DE_Steve responded that it was a possibility for a future update but could not go into more detail. However, DE_Sheldon did confirm that players could now expect to see Landing Craft Boosters which would be available through Prime Access or the Market. These boosters would reduce the time required to travel to a new mission node.

Players are already sharing their newfound affections for the increased loading times. Though many were skeptical at first, they have found them to be cathartic and truly add to the sense of immersion. When asked how they felt about the new improvements, one System Tenno responded “The elongated loading screens serve as an opportunity to take stock of your inventory, assess your mission objectives, steel your mind, and enter an existential crisis as you tally up all of the time you have spent sitting in front of your monitor doing nothing with your life.”