TennoVIP has finally landed in China for the first time.
Our beloved Lotus—Creative Director Rebecca—along with Community Director Megan and Chinese Community Manager Zi, came to China to celebrate with Hamsters from across the country in this ancient capital of thirteen dynasties. I've already extensively covered the TennoVIP festivities in my interview with the Lotus next door, so I won't repeat it here.
More accurately, I hope everyone focuses on the person somewhat overshadowed by the "first major Chinese TennoVIP event"—the Xi'an Warframe Campus Tour.
This is already the fourth Tenno Campus Tour event hosted by Digital Extremes and Tencent. Due to scheduling conflicts, I missed the previous events in Chengdu, Changsha, and Wuhan, but I finally made it to Xi'an this time.
Although the sun was blazing in Xi'an on the day of the event, nearly drying me out into a Hamster jerky, no one present backed down, and naturally, neither did I.
This campus tour set up stages around the central plaza of G Park at the Old City Root in Xi'an, preparing many good things for the Hamsters attending the event—including WFTI personality data scanning quizzes, Warframe fashion shows and Plains racing battles, Tenno enrollment photos, and Void Relic opening sessions.
There are various prizes waiting for Tenno warriors to take home at every stage.
Even if luck isn't on your side and you don't get anything good in the battle segments, just queue up at the venue, and staff will hand you various small gifts.
Of course, if you participate in all the activities, filling your bag with goodies is a given.
If I had to pick my favorite segment, it would definitely be the Warframe fashion show. This isn't because I opened three Void Relics and got nothing, not even a Forma. Nor is it because I was beaten by many Hamsters in the Plains racing. And certainly not because I brought out my Thunder Pink Kubrow in the fashion segment and was gently discouraged by the staff.
I mean, what's wrong with my pink Kubrow? Why wasn't it allowed on stage during such a joyous occasion? One day, everyone will be controlling pink Kubrows!
Alas, I circled around several times but never found an opportunity to bring my pink smile to everyone present. As the event progressed, the scene was lively with firecrackers and drums, and the band that had appeared at TennoVIP returned with various songs.
Anyway, back to the main topic. Next is the interview with Chinese Community Manager Zi—the themes discussed coincidentally align with the philosophy of the Tenno Campus Tour event.
Q: How long have you been responsible for the Warframe community in China? During your tenure, what do you feel has been the most important change in the overall environment of the Chinese community?
Zi:That's a great question. I have been managing the Chinese community for over a year now, since last July. When I first started, we conducted an overall sentiment analysis of the Chinese community. Honestly, the survey results surprised me because the community atmosphere was very active and everyone was friendly.
However, there were aspects that made me uneasy. Many new players heard rumors like "2035" or "Dark Forest," causing them to hesitate about trying the game. At that time, we internally prioritized the China region, wanting to strengthen one-on-one communication with Chinese players to discuss topics they truly cared about. So, upon learning of these rumors, I conducted an internal investigation to trace their origins and determine how best to alleviate player concerns.
Later, I discussed this with Rebecca and Megan, suggesting we make a video to respond directly. Starting with this video, we plan to regularly answer player questions every month.
Since then, some changes have become clearly visible.
For example, when browsing social media, I often see many newcomers joining, asking how to form groups, if any veterans can guide them, or how to get started. I also see many veteran players saying that Warframe is getting better and better and paying more attention to Chinese players. But this isn't due to my efforts alone; it's the result of collective effort, with the Tencent team providing us with tremendous help.
We also have many volunteer translators who help with translations consistently day after day, along with numerous content creators and veteran players who love Warframe. Everyone is putting in great effort to make this community better, safer, and warmer.
Q: Based on current community operations, what do you think are the core demands of Chinese players right now? Also, what communication mechanisms have been established between Tencent and Digital Extremes to translate Chinese player feedback into actual content updates by the DE development team?
Zi:Actually, the most common requests we hear, such as adding more Chinese content and Warframes, reducing the grind, or making it easier to buy merchandise, are quite typical. However, specifically, we conduct different observations based on each version update.
Regarding how to translate player feedback into practical updates, both Tencent and the Digital Extremes teams have been actively listening and compiling extensive player feedback. For urgent issues requiring quick responses, we reply directly to players and post announcements on Bilibili. For more long-term and fundamental feedback, we hold weekly and monthly meetings with Tencent to discuss the hottest topics among players. Issues that can be addressed promptly are responded to directly through interactions like developer logs.
If the direction of the issue is correct but a perfect solution hasn't been finalized, I will bring it back to other development team members for further progress and continue to follow up.
Q: Having worked on the front lines of the Chinese community for a long time, you likely understand the typical paths of Chinese players joining and leaving the game better than anyone. Compared to global players, are there any specific "pain points" for new Chinese players? For example, do they have lower tolerance for the lack of clear mission guidance?
Zi:As someone who was once a new player myself, I think the biggest pain point is the sheer volume of content. When I first started, I was overwhelmed by thirteen years' worth of material. For Chinese players, much of the initial content was in English, creating a significant barrier to entry. To address this, we have been working hard in several directions.
The first direction is making the new player experience more friendly. For instance, we added mentor missions to teach loadout building and Mod configuration. We also optimized some Star Chart nodes to make early progression smoother and less prone to getting stuck. An old player friend who helped me unlock the Star Chart mentioned that the current experience is much improved compared to when he first played.
The second direction is the significant effort we put into creating new Chinese voiceovers, which hadn't been announced before (it was announced at the TennoVIP event this afternoon). We aim to make the game's story easier to understand. In December, some players reported that subtitles sometimes didn't match the voiceovers, which was uncomfortable to listen to. We escalated this issue and re-recorded voiceovers for the entire storyline. Many colleagues from the localization team and I spent considerable time reviewing the pacing of all lines, figuring out how to translate them more naturally. This content will be released in the September update (Narin's Ice Blade). We will monitor player feedback to see if the first wave goes smoothly and if players like it. If the response is positive, we will continue to produce more.
Q: From your observation, what obvious differences do you feel exist between Chinese and Western players in terms of community discussion styles and gaming habits? Have these differences led you to change any community management strategies?
Zi:I think the biggest difference is that the Chinese community is particularly united, with everyone mainly concentrated on a few platforms, allowing information to spread quickly. This has its advantages—I can easily obtain feedback by browsing social media daily and efficiently convey concentrated feedback to the team.
Chinese players are actually very direct; they speak their minds. When they offer suggestions, you can feel that they truly care about the game. They express feedback directly, and conversely, if they think we're doing well, they are generous with praise and support, which is also a great aspect.
What moves me most is that the Chinese community has always had strong autonomy. Many core players proactively help us translate, whether it's content from each update or tweets from Rebecca and Pablo. Because they truly love this game and want to help other players get started, this spirit is especially rare. As for my role, I see myself as a bridge, helping Digital Extremes understand what Chinese players care about most and ensuring that player voices are heard.
Q: What kinds of activities or content are you most eager to try in China, whether online or offline? I noticed that formats like campus tours are unique to the domestic market, and choosing Xi'an for the VIP event was also a distinctive choice. I'm curious about what other formats we might see in the future?
Zi:When I first arrived, I remember our communication with players and the activities we organized were basically just holiday videos. Later, when we started doing these monthly communications, the response was excellent. A consistent piece of feedback in player comments was: "When will Digital Extremes come to China?" This was the most common sentiment I received.
We tried something new this year by inviting Rebecca for a small offline event. Rebecca fell in love with Shanghai immediately, thinking it was a wonderful place, and expressed a strong desire to return. After we released the recap video, many people asked why Megan didn't come and when she would visit next, so we invited Megan this time. I hope to organize more such offline events. With many major updates planned for next year, I hope to bring more team members to China.
Q: I've seen many players complain that shipping costs for merchandise from the overseas official website are higher than the items themselves. Rebecca previously mentioned wanting to hold pop-up stores in China. Could you share any specific plans or timelines for localizing merchandise purchases and offline events to make it easier for Chinese players to buy merch?
Zi:I don't think this is just a complaint from Chinese players; players worldwide are giving us this feedback. Even here in Canada, I sometimes have to go through hoops to buy merchandise, and shipping costs are equally high. It's a significant issue.
I think Chinese players are quite creative, and Rebecca previously mentioned the idea of pop-up stores. Frankly, we are very eager to try this, but we are currently in the compliance process communication stage, with some issues still needing resolution. We are pushing forward, so we cannot share a definite timeline with everyone yet. Our internal goal is to accompany future campus tours with some pop-up activities, making it more convenient for everyone to buy merchandise.
Additionally, we prepared many free merchandise items for this TennoVIP event. Originally, we thought having a pop-up store would be better, but giving them away directly this time also felt great. We hope to share some good news with everyone soon.
Q: You mentioned earlier that Chinese localization is underway, including plans for Chinese voiceovers. Given that Warframe has many coined terms and elements beloved by players, how are you approaching Chinese localization in this regard?
Zi:I've actually discussed this question with the localization team. Especially when working on Mandarin voiceovers, we review every term, considering how it should be translated and how the community will perceive our translations.
For content like Chang'e, which has deep roots in Chinese culture, we don't simply translate literally or freely. The localization team handles it within the context of Chinese culture, choosing the most appropriate expression for each situation to preserve the original cultural connotations, allowing Chinese players to understand and resonate with it more naturally.
I am also involved in this process, providing input from a community perspective. For instance, with the term "Big Mouth" Helminth—"Big Mouth" is actually an unofficial nickname—we discussed how to localize it: should we keep the English term, use a different translation, or consider how the community would perceive it? It was an interesting discussion, and we ultimately decided to keep the phonetic translation. So, it's all a collaborative team effort; we now always consider the community's reaction before making decisions.
Q: When designing the new Chang'e Warframe, do you communicate with Digital Extremes regarding the direction and explanations of the content?
Zi:Yes. I previously conducted a community survey asking for opinions on Chang'e and inviting everyone to leave comments. Later, I compiled all the private messages and comments and sent them to Rebecca.
Q: Is the specific process just talking to them directly?
Zi:Yes, Rebecca is very approachable, so I can just go directly to her.