[2020] Warframe Partner and Fansite Programs: A New Chapter

If you have interacted with any Warframe content creators online, you might be aware of our Warframe Partner and Fansite programs. These programs have shone a light on a group of amazing independent individuals who have done everything from making guides about new content, brightening days with fun-filled livestreams or creating useful community tools. 

While we cherish the work we have done with our community creators, we feel it is time to close the chapter for these programs. So, the Warframe Partner and Warframe Fansite programs will be ending on June 19, 2020.  

With the ending of one chapter, comes the beginning of another! 

We will be launching a brand new program that highlights the variety and depth of content creation in our community in the form of a Creator program! It will support:

• Fan Artists - new!
• Captura Artists - new! 
• Podcasts
• Fan Sites (Guide sites, community tools, etc.)
• Broadcasters (Twitch/Mixer, etc.)
• Video Producers (YouTube, etc.)

Our goals have always been to highlight the amazing independent talent within our community, and we are beyond excited to expand our support to more types of Creators. As much as we loved our work with our Partner and Fansite Programs, the gaming space was a very different time when they were started six years ago. We felt it was time to retire them to rebuild a community-focused content creator program that reflected industry standards in 2020.

Part of those standards apply to general policies when it comes to conduct and professionalism, and ensuring that the Creator Program is a low-pressure resource to supplement content creation while avoiding burnout. We are also thrilled to expand the kind of content we support, while also ensuring multi-platform Creators get access to the best tools in one unified program. 

For many years we have featured Fan Artists in a variety of ways to support their art and talent — that isn’t changing, and will not tie into the Creator Program. Instead, the Creator Program will offer tools and resources for artists (and other Creators) to build their online presence and communities.

Since 2014 with the start of the Fan Channel Program, later turned Partner and Fansite Programs, we learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and we are very much aware of the criticisms shared with us by both Partners and the community. The lack of trust that some might have in our policies is a failure on our part that we hope to remedy with the clearer policies and guidelines we have designed for the Creator Program. 

Additionally, while Discords were in our original Fansite program, we are not continuing this support within the Creator Program. These are unique community gathering spaces, and we are working with our previous Fansite Discords to see what ways we can continue supporting them.

There is still much to talk about for the Creator Program, but we will wait to do so when it officially launches later this summer! This new program will have a new application process for all, so if you’re interested, keep an eye out for when applications launch!

TL;DR:

• Warframe Partner / Fansite Programs close June 19.
• Creator Program being introduced later this summer that will include Fan Artists, Captura Creators, and more.
• 2020 industry standard policies made with respect to burnout and conduct. 

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FAQ IN SPOILERS BELOW!

Spoiler

Creator Program goals:
The Warframe Creator Program is a flexible community-focused support program aimed at offering resources to those making videos, fan art, capturas, podcasts, websites, or livestreams about Warframe. These resources and tools are built as a professional system to help elevate creators in the community and lower barriers to entry for content creation.
 

What does the Creator Program offer?
We are using our 6 years of work with content creators to distill our program offerings into 4 core perks that we believe best serve the program goals to lower barriers to content creation.

Those are: 

• Day One Access (receiving new content as it releases)
• Giveaways
• Weekly confidential newsletters
• Featured content opportunities

“Featured Content” manifests in many ways outside of extra visibility on our social channels. We will continue with Twitch / Mixer raids, but expand them to include fan art or music streams related to Warframe. Community Spotlights (now called Creator Spotlights) are also returning as a recurring way to highlight the talent in our community.

Additionally, we want to invest in tools that help Creators improve their craft, so to start, we will be offering artist workshops with [DE] Staff  from our Art Team every few months. We hope to find ways to do so for other types of content creation as well!
 

What about Glyphs?
Glyphs are not offered via the Creator program, and instead we handle their distribution in other ways that best serve the community. Glyph waves will continue in the future, just not within the exclusive context of the Creator program.
 

Are Program Criteria Changing?
Yes! We are lowering overall program requirements since our tools are aimed at lessening barriers to entry for content creation. The final requirements will be announced upon launch!
 

Are Existing Partners and Fansites being grandfathered in?
No -- this is a new program with new rules, so anyone interested in joining will have to reapply and each application will be reviewed under the same standards!
 

How is this program “flexible”?
There are two ways that this term applies to the Creator Program.

Firstly, the process of leaving and rejoining will be streamlined to allow for Creators to take breaks from the game, while ensuring that our Creator Directory is filled with active Creators. 

We will be more frequent in inactivity removals for those absent for a significant period of time. To counter that, we will be offering faster re-entry to the program for those lapsed due to inactivity. The program perks are directly tied to content creation for Warframe specifically, so if you are not playing, revocation of those perks should have less of an impact. 

Since we are working with more individuals whose content creation is more time intensive (ex: fan artists), we are aware of the need to establish fair guidelines for inactivity tied to content type, and intend to do so.

Secondly, this new program is flexible due to the vast amount of content supported under one umbrella. Previously there was a separation between our fansites / podcasts, and Youtubers/broadcasters, and that limited what opportunities were available to individuals based on the program they were in. Now Creators will get access to perks that serve whatever kind of Warframe content they make in a unified program.

Will there be a clearer means of reporting Creator misconduct? 
Yes, we are establishing clearer reporting and tracking tools for Creator Conduct concerns. Community members will be able to forward their concerns to us via an email we will publicly list on the Creator application and criteria page. 
 

There have been conduct enforcement concerns in the past. How will things change so these concerns don’t come up again?
When we started wading into this program redesign, one of the first steps was reflecting on our actions and policies as Devs across the Partner program in general. We have been doing this for six long, storied years, and we will be the first to admit that mistakes and missteps were made along the way. 

In this time, we looked at how our peers have managed similar programs, and their enforcement policies to ensure we are meeting industry standards.We are implementing clearer professional guidelines and policies to ensure those mistakes don’t happen again, as well as put in place better tools for reporting and tracking that lets us identify and act on moments of concern sooner.

 

Edited 3 minutes ago by [DE]Taylor
added discord edit

1 minute ago, trunks013 said:

Well we will see what hapens with that.

So basicly tomorrow no Partner program anymore.

So the current glyph will they stay in game ?

Existing Glyphs will stay in-game, yes!

2 minutes ago, --Brandt-- said:

The topic of stream raids I'll be looking forward. Current system: Streamer doesn't play for 3 months. Applies, and gets accepted. Streams game for 5 hours to enjoy the benefits of a 10000 person raid. Ignores the game again for 3 months. Did whoever that selected them not look at their content and see how inactive they were prior to being raided

General activity in the program was always a qualifier for raids, but more enforcement of inactivity policies will be healthier for the program as a whole! 

6 minutes ago, --Brandt-- said:

You mentioned in a comment glyphs, what about people that aren't partners anymore? TrainsyTV for example or the streamers that haven't streamed in over a year like XiaRose? There's a lot of glyphs that aren't obtainable anymore and when I asked you about it a year or so ago on Twitter, you said I had to message these inactive people or non-partners to get a code.

They are welcome to contact us if they want to discuss distributing their Glyph again, but as of writing this, many of the unobtainable Glyphs due to lapsed Partnership will remain unobtainable.

4 minutes ago, Shoelip said:

I hope smaller partners won't have too much trouble getting back in to the creator program when it launches.  The really big popular ones obviously give you the most reach, but small ones fill important niches to help add variety to the program.

We are specifically lowering requirements because we are aware that those with smaller communities benefit so much from the tools we are setting up!

22 minutes ago, Necifer said:

Why did you not include publicly the fact that community Discord servers won't be accepted nor supported anymore, even through creator program ? Players should have every informations on this program at their disposal. @[DE]Taylor

That is a very valid point - thank you for bringing it up! With the closure of the Fansite Program, it was an implied statement that we absolutely should have made clearer. I have amended our FAQ to address Discords specifically, and I will look to update the news post to include this. 

1 hour ago, [DE]Taylor said:

Additionally, while Discords were in our original Fansite program, we are not continuing this support within the Creator Program. These are unique community gathering spaces, and we are working with our previous Fansite Discords to see what ways we can continue supporting them.

Added Discord edit to this post and to the news post. Thank you again for the feedback!

3 minutes ago, SirTedz said:

Will memers be considered artists or fansites under the new rules? (Would be great!!!)

And will making Warframe related music be counted as art aswell or will musically talented people still have to enter tennotunes?

7 minutes ago, Stickman949 said:

Question though for Taylor... Will SFM Artists benefit from this program? I'd love to start working with you guys via my SFM art.

We are open to seeing what kind of artists apply to this program. I'm not 100% sure about meme accounts, but musicians and SFM artists would be judged on a case-by-case basis. For musicians specifically, we had music-focused YouTubers in the Partner program so we would love to see what else we can do for that type of content where possible.

6 minutes ago, Buff00n said:

Okay, cool.  The one constant in Warframe is change; I'm looking forward to seeing the new creator program.  I have a few questions:

Does this mean there will be a gap in plat/glyph code giveaways between the end of the old program and the beginning of the new one?  Will things like Prime Access and Prime Vault giveaways still be a thing in the new program?

 

Will the basic way players acquires glyphs be changing, or will it still be mostly through one-time codes and a couple of universal codes?  Will the universal glyph codes still work in the interim and after the new program starts?

 

I notice we forgot to have a Tenno Tunes contest this year, is this gearing up to be a replacement for that?

You would have received an email about this earlier this week (as a Partner), I will contact you again to make sure you have all the info!

11 minutes ago, (NSW)Finlaena said:

Also, random question: Will conditions for eligibility be more catered to PC players who apply, or will console players have a fair shot of acceptance, too?

I only ask, because I know us Switch players are often late to the party due to Nintendo’s turtle-slow cert process, haha.

We would LOVE more Console Tenno in these programs, 1000%. The Creator program will welcome Tenno from all platforms!

7 hours ago, Rhekemi said:

I'll be interested in DE's stance on this as well. DE and Warframe have always prioritized fan content creators that created art and videos (and sometimes music), and those looped into specific platforms. For those of us who created fan content literature (writing), support, recognition, even finding an audience was always scarce. Whether I ever have the time or the desire to go back to creating fan content, I do hope that writers in the Warframe community can be included in this new big tent (without having to always have a visual component included in their work).

It really depends on the community they have built around their craft. When the program officially launches, it'll give artists (written, traditional art, captura, etc.) a chance to look at the criteria and see if their platforms meet them. If so, they are welcome to apply, and we will judge eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

Locking this thread as unfortunately the discussion has gotten off-topic. 

Thank you to everyone who voiced their feedback, questions, or concerns in a constructive manner. I know that conduct especially is a concern for some of you who commented here, and as we indicated in our FAQ and post, we have much clearer internal guidelines to ensure these concerns are handled swiftly and fairly.

What matters are the steps we take towards launch, and the ones following it as well. We are considering the discussions had here and elsewhere as we move forward.

With that all said, we can't wait to expand our support to the amazing variety of content creators in our community with the help of our new Creator Program soon!