Warframe - 2/20 hours

Just going by first impressions, it's pretty amazing that this game is free. It plays like a fairly solid action game, and there looks to be a fairly deep equipment and crafting system that will potentially allow for a breathtaking degree of character customization.

Of course, it could all be smoke and shadow. I have literally not yet progressed far enough in the game to engage with the crafting system. It could be that the various mods and materials are rare enough, and the crafting times long enough, that engaging with the system will be a painful slog. It's too soon to tell.

Nonetheless, from what I've seen so far, Warframe looks like a game I would be willing to pay money for. So, why don't I? After all, the whole point of free-to-play is that it allows people to decide how much a game is worth and spend accordingly.

It may sound weird, but it feels to me like if I spend money on a game, then I'm in some way committed to it. I've never been entirely comfortable with the idea of games as ephemera. Chalk it up to my age, but I grew up thinking of games as things that you owned. So, the idea of sending something out over the internet and not getting anything tangible in return feels weird to me.

Is this hypocrisy coming from someone whose Steam library currently numbers more than a hundred titles? Is that not the hallmark of a person who has at least some comfort with an information economy? Perhaps, but I have a confession. Each and every game that I personally paid money for is currently installed on my hard drive, as are a significant percentage of the games people gifted me (Ride to Hell - is currently occupying digital oblivion, for obvious reasons). I just can't come to terms with the idea that the games can somehow belong to me, yet have no physical substantiation.

It's an irrational viewpoint. I've rented games before. And I'm planning on playing this for at least 18 more hours, so dropping five bucks to make those hours more enjoyable is no different in practice. It would make me a good internet citizen, to help support financially something that gives so many people enjoyment.

Yet I can't shake the feeling that it would be throwing money in the garbage. A single new warframe costs around 300 platinum, which is something like 15 bucks. How could I ever get rid of something that cost me so much?

So, I don't know, unless I find something really compelling for less than 75 platinum (the amount you get for 5$), I'm afraid I'm going to have to be a free rider. It was easier in Dungeons and Dragons Online, when I didn't really care for the core gameplay. So, in a weird way, I'm almost rooting for Warframe to turn dull and/or frustrating. If I continue to have a good time, I'm going to feel like a real ass come hour 20.