STORY I don't think it's quite fair to compare the stories of these games because, frankly, they're both implemented poorly. Destiny has a lot of detail but it's delivered in lore tab snippets, grimoire cards, ambient dialogue and offhand comments by characters. Worse, there's no codex that compiles this information for easy reference later. It's too fragmented and lacking a central repository. There's a reason YouTube loremasters like Mylen and Byf are referred to all the time: it's really the only way people can keep the lore straight. Destiny does have better character development though. I actually care about the characters in Destiny. Warframe has a similar problem: the story is fragmented and incongruous until you start the Natah quest, which is when DE started making a deliberate attempt to make the story more coherent. However, they did that very late into the development cycle, so you don't even get to [i]start [/i]the 'main story' until you're over halfway through the star map. Next, while Warframe does have a codex you are required to fill it in yourself by actively scanning everything you see. That wouldn't be so hard except you cant scan dead foes, which means you have to solo missions if your intent is to fill the codex. Or find a cooperative team that wont just blitz everything, which is hard because blitzing things is how everyone plays Warframe. Further, the lore is so scattered and fragmented that you never know if one piece connects to another, and we know for certain that some lore contradicts other lore. And finally, your character is a bit too disconnected from things. I think they're trying to fix that with the upcoming story chapters, but right now the only interaction you get is with a handful of recurring npcs, and most of them want to kill you. MODS The mod system in Destiny is rudimentary at best, but Bungie's new to the concept so it can be forgiven. And there is a rather large selection of armor mods, though getting them is a bit frustrating and the lack of a trade system only makes it worse. Further, having a limited storage capacity it just ridiculous: Warframe allows you to have as many mods as you want. Yes, the mod system in Warframe is superior primarily because the mods are swappable, so you can retool your gear for each mission type instead of having to store one set of gear for this kind of mission, another set of gear for that one... etc. The mod system is a bit complex, yes, but it used to be much, much worse. It could do with a better tutorial but part of the Warframe experience is figuring things out. It does not make any attempt to hold the players' hand, and most players I know respect that. GUNPLAY Destiny's gunplay is a direct result of it's design intent: PVP. Since balance is important there you have to maintain a relatively small variety of guns in order to keep things fair. More variety, more difficulty in balancing. Guns are somewhat easy to come by too: at the very least you know whose tokens you need to farm for to get a chance at the gun you want dropping from an engram. Warframe, being an unbalance PVE game, can have all the variety it wants. And yet, even still, some guns are favored over others, and some guns are completely ignored because they're just not good.And yes, the mod system allows you to tailor each gun how you want it so it feels unique. 4 people can go into a missoin all carrying Latrons and all 4 of them be different guns. Earning them can be a chore though, yes. Most guns you have to get a blueprint for and then build it. That's a 12-hour wait time unless you pay real money to rush it. Some guns you can buy the blueprint right out of the market (for game money, not real money) or you can buy it from your clan's research lab if you're in one. Others, however, only drop their prints and/or parts from certain enemies, which is total RNG to farm, or you can only get them as event rewards. I had to farm a series of invasions to get all the parts for a Snipetron Vandal, including the blueprint. I don't even use the thing but I wanted it. :P So here's not terribly fair to compare their gunplay because, again, the gunplay is a direct result of the design intent of the game, and since the design intents are so different so too will be the gunplay. TIME You have a point here. Destiny gives you your reward and you have instant access to use it. Warframe is built with the grind concept in mind. Everything is put behind a grind wall to entice you to pay real money to bypass that grind. I've taken to calling that "pay to skip." It's just one more way Warframe funds itself since it doesn't have an initial buy-in cost like Destiny. Most players I know don't complain about this because it's the trade off for having a free-to-play game. Even so, there's so much to do while waiting for something to build that it's not really worth it to pay to skip. Another point about Time though is that time invested playing. In Destiny it's easy to sit down and spend several hours playing, but you can't really play in short 5 or 10 minute spurts. A public event here, a lost sector there, hey let's do a strike.... it requires you to sit down and focus on playing, to the exclusion of all else. Effectively, you have to block out time to play Destiny. Warframe on the other hand, you can play in short spurts. Run a mission then go do a load of laundry. Come back and run another mission or two, go do the dishes. It's Much, MUCH easier to break and take care of real-world responsibilities with Warframe than with Destiny, because you're only "in the game" for 5 to 10 minutes at a time, typically. I think that's an aspect not many people think about. ARMOR D2's armor is not just cosmetic, you know that. Each piece has intrinsic stats that you can select between. Heavy hunter armor has an option to trade some mobility for increased resilience and recovery. Survivalist adds resilience but no recovery, opting instead to keep mobility a bit higher. Each is a trade off, allowing you to tailor things to suit your gameplay style. Add mods to differing armor sets and you have a set for Crucible, a set for each subclass energy type.... etc. It's more than cosmetic. In Warframe, the 'armor' is the actual frame itself, yes, rather than individual pieces of armor, and you apply mods to it just like you do your weapons. The game does offer the ability to add all manner of cosmetics to your frame but it's strictly cosmetic and has no effect on the actual function of the frame. You don't need any of the cosmetic add-ons, but when you say "fashion-frame is endgame" you are quite correct. In the end though, as I started out with, I don't think it's fair to compare the games. They're just too different because they have different core philosophies governing how they are made.

A 4 and a half year old F2P Hack & Slash compared to a 2 month old P2P First Person Shooter? Makes sense.

Destiny has outstanding gunplay. Warframe's is a joke. And as lame as destinys in game story is and will likely always be the lore is unbelievablely interesting and enjoyable to read

Warframe needs to be streamlined. It throws quite a bit of content at you without too much introduction and very vague objectives at times. The mission types get a bit repetitive and the boss encounters aren't too memorable. You tend to do a lot of waiting for gear unless you spend money. They could do with a better quest/mission system while also introducing parts of the game better, but I enjoy that they don't do much hand holding. They could definitely decrease the time you spend waiting on gear in the foundry. The wait times are pretty much the worst part of the game. Destiny falls short in that the game really just seems to miss the ball on superhuman soldiers utilizing a cosmic force that can defy the laws f our universe; you're made to feel so weak and feeble that it's boring. You come by gear easily, but it's based far too much on chance, and the gear tends to feel lackluster and uninspiring. There just isn't enough to do, and what content is there just doesn't feel engaging enough to warrant repeating after a month or so. With Warframe, I'm always working towards something. Warframe just makes you feel powerful, but it does have bullshit enemies and status effects at times. The Operator isn't built for combat well at all, but you do get to choose what they say during the War Within.

My perfect game would be both fused together. The deep character customization / mod system / speed / powerful feeling badass characters of Warframe combined with the gunplay and raid encounters in Destiny. Warframe is far from perfect for me. It’s not a “vs” relationship. I have room in my gaming library for both to exist. I thought PoE in Warframe was a swing and a miss personally. Big open world with a few things to do, but what am I doing them for? For Focus Farming and getting glamour gear essentially. The rewards simply aren’t there. The idea is awesome but execution leaves a lot to be desired.

I want to come back to this and explore it in detail later, but I think you've done a pretty good job contrasting them. Warframe gets brought up a lot here as a competitor and is looked to as an example for things (some) players want. But, it's not fair to do that because the games have far more differences than similarities. Warframe is a co-op game, to the point where you flat [u]can't[/u] do some things solo unless you're very, very skilled and practiced. There is a setting to make it solo, but by default it's a co-op game. Destiny on the other hand is very much a solo game unless you choose it not to be. They're polar opposite in how the player approaches the game. Warframe is designed, [i]intended[/i], for the player to be overpowered. The developers want you to feel like a bada$$. Running at lightspeed, turning invisible at will, setting entire rooms on fire (looking at you Ember, you pyro); no consideration is given to balancing abilities for a competitive PVP mode because Warframe is quite clear that it is not a PVP game. There are 2 PVP modes and neither get much traffic. DE themselves have abandonned development on them because those modes see so few players. Warframe is, at it's core, a PVE game. Destiny 2 is designed from the ground up to be a PVP game. Bungie were quite clear on this for the past couple of years that all the decision they made for the game were with a "PVP-first" mindset. The PVE modes are there, yes, but they dont get the consideration they deserve because that's not where the studio's heart lies. This is the fundamental difference between the games and why it's not fair to compare them. I'll have more to say later.