There’s a lot we still don’t know about Digital Extremes’ upcoming multiplayer fantasy title Soulframe, but what we do know is that the game will be a little different than what players are used to with Warframe. In a conversation with Community Manager Sarah Asselin at Tennocon, she divulged what players might see when the team fleshes out their multiplayer, with the inclusion of a feature called Soul Vision.
During the developer stream for Soulframe, what we didn’t see was the inclusion of multiplayer. This is a feature that’s certainly at the top of the list, seeing as how many players are looking for a little more MMO from Soulframe, or at least a more robust co-op experience. Sarah had mentioned that the team is really looking into differentiating pacts, gear, and weapons so that players don’t all feel the same.
However, Soulframe is still in its pre-alpha state known as its “Preludes” and there have been multiple iterations of it up to this point. In its current state, 4 players are allowed in a group which is a perfect size for dungeon runs and some boss encounters, but a far cry from seeing players out and about in the world in novel ways. That’s where the idea of Soul Vision comes in.
“Steve (Sinclair, CEO of Digital Extremes) has this dream right now,” Sarah began with a smile. “Its Spectral Sight, so, like a Soul Vision mode of being able to see players who have open parties and then be able to just jump in if they're open.” She explained. “Not even close to being implemented,” she joked, “but I think that's a really cool idea and it would be different if we had something like that. So, we'll see where it goes, but I think that would be so cool.” She concluded.
Conceivably, this could work in a way where we would see group members of open parties in the world as ghosts, wisps, or some other manner of specter, signifying that there’s an open group awaiting another adventurer. While it may not be exactly like seeing dozens of players in your world along with you, it also doesn’t mean that your world would be completely devoid of players. You would be able to see other players, and even group alongside them for missions, but they wouldn’t be able to directly affect your world.
With Soul Vision still in development, it might be that this mode gets scrapped in lieu of something completely different by the time testing completes. We could see the number of players in a world change, the open world shift, and perhaps even an overhaul of grouping like a group finder. Luckily, it looks like Soul Vision is still a possibility for the future, and it might make the world of Soulframe a lot less lonely.
