Treasure chests, hidden items/rooms, switches/puzzles for current and future dungeons

One thing missing from the current dungeons are various ways to activate different hidden paths or puzzles in general. Thinking back to past FF titles and even XI, there were pressure plate puzzles, different levers you had to pull to visit certain floors within mines or even open a door on the other side of the dungeon.

It would be great if the current dungeons (especially Mistbeard Cove since it seems like it will be a pirate base eventually, Tam-Tara deepcroft, since it looks like some old forgotten ruins, and the different mines in Thanalan) as well as the near future dungeons made use of various puzzles or plates/levers to change things up while traveling within them. Perhaps add some extra lower areas to some current dungeons in order to make use of these mechanics (would be easy to tie some company excavation mini-story-lines to these).

Random treasure chests within the dungeons that may contain rare items, potions, ethers, would also aid in bringing the Final Fantasy feel as well as giving people reason to explore every inch of a dungeon if possible.

Yes, that would be very Final Fantasy-ish in my opinion. It would give players a reason to explore, as well. Put in some kind of a random element so that players have to think to advance and so it won't be as simple as following some static guide.

Also, stick some Mimics in those random treasure chests, while you're at it.

Looking at Malboro animations, i'd really like to see XIV mimics in action!

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Originally Posted by Teknoman

One thing missing from the current dungeons are various ways to activate different hidden paths or puzzles in general. Thinking back to past FF titles and even XI, there were pressure plate puzzles, different levers you had to pull to visit certain floors within mines or even open a door on the other side of the dungeon.

It would be great if the current dungeons (especially Mistbeard Cove since it seems like it will be a pirate base eventually, Tam-Tara deepcroft, since it looks like some old forgotten ruins, and the different mines in Thanalan) as well as the near future dungeons made use of various puzzles or plates/levers to change things up while traveling within them. Perhaps add some extra lower areas to some current dungeons in order to make use of these mechanics (would be easy to tie some company excavation mini-story-lines to these).

Random treasure chests within the dungeons that may contain rare items, potions, ethers, would also aid in bringing the Final Fantasy feel as well as giving people reason to explore every inch of a dungeon if possible.

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:o I really like this Idea! someone tell the devs to work on it sometime :D (Not too soon tho they still have some things at least I would prefer them to work on first i.e. System end things like optimization :)

Hopefully if enough people see this and find it interesting, the devs or our rep will see. But yeah, battle system optimization among other things come first...of course the treasure chest should be easy to implement.

This is a great idea. I especially like the chests part, even though there are complaints about too many items in game already. Chests could easily reward gil, crystals, or unique consumables. For example, an Anima restoring potion or an sp boosting ring with limited charges - things that hopefully wouldn't pressure the gear-saturated market.

And if keys to open these chests were a synthed item and used up upon attempt, it would be at least one consumable item that the economy seems to desperately need.

Either way, I like this suggestion a lot.

I'm just hoping one of our reps takes notice and passes it along (and that people in other regions have similar mindsets), especially since Yoshida and the new team's main aim was to establish a strong "Final Fantasy feel" that most felt the game was severely lacking.

Everything mentioned in Letter X and most of the battle system blueprint seems to be leaning towards that, but things like this with dungeons and the general environment would go a long way. As long as it doesnt get so overly complicated that you cant figure it out with resorting to a guide :p

yeah puzzles make rpgs fun :D

chests ppl love them so why not?

keep 1 thing in mind , will new dungeons be instanced? .....because if the rewards are "worth it" , ppl can and will camp chest spawns :P

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Originally Posted by Teknoman

I'm just hoping one of our reps takes notice and passes it along

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They pass along most non-joke suggestions, but if they always posted about that, we'd get way too many dev posts that don't have any significant content.

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Originally Posted by Teknoman

Everything mentioned in Letter X and most of the battle system blueprint seems to be leaning towards that, but things like this with dungeons and the general environment would go a long way. As long as it doesnt get so overly complicated that you cant figure it out with resorting to a guide :p

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Yeah, stuff that is hard to do and requires critical thinking would be nice, but not something so obscure that it would require a guide. I think the problem would be, how do you keep the experience fresh for players who have done the same dungeon 30 times already? I mean, it's not really a problem in a single-player game like Legend of Zelda, but it would be a problem for a MMO.

30 times already? , if have done a dungeon 5+ times already u dont need a fresh experience :P

Puzzles in dungeons would be great! The straight through mass slaughter that dungeons typically do get's old. Solving a puzzle or two like in the Tales games would be a great way to make dungeons more interesting.

We all know the devs like Star Wars but they could do with following Harrison Ford's career a little futher and inject some Indiana Jones into the game. Now that they own Eidos maybe they should look to there Tomb Raider devs to help them out with some ideas. When looking at FFXI there is one "Progression inhibiter ?" that stands out from all the rest and thats the three mage gate. I loved how the floor lit up if you were on one of the correct jobs so more of the same please SE devs, enviroment changing puzzels are full of win.

As for a little motivation to keep re-exploring area's I think if they were to add items that were not repairable and could randomly be obtained from any chest in the game this could prove to be a good motivation. These items would of course need to be right up there on the desireable list and have maybe a 2% find rate so they don't become standard.

i likes the op's suggestions, i'd like to see random bosses in dungeons and having them in mix locations, nyzle was done well this way. always kept things fresh. make it so u'r not skipping parts cause u know it's empty every run.

love casanctus idea about gears that are not repairable. this will make it so always getting them is a treat that u'l always want to go for. like in warhammer there were talismans that had time on them so after that time they were done and in dungoen there was good ones with +block or what not. this would be a great fit into this mmo.

good ideas i applaud this plan

Very clever ideas gang! We will be implementing a wide variety of challenges for all of you to enjoy. :)

I love this tread! I am a big fan of puzzles, riddles, and traps in dungeons. I really like hidden rooms behind false walls that contain treasure. In FF7 the piano puzzles were awesome! I like the puzzle that involve sound recognition. I would like to see a dungeon that we have to reflect light from the outside into the dungeon with the positioning of crystals that have mirror like properties to unlock a treasure chest or open the door to a boss fight... there could be a riddle that states that the sunlight from sunrise is the key that will unlock the magic door or treasure chest. Then we would have to time the opening of the chest at a specific time in the game world!

Would be nice if the corridors / mobs / treasures / puzzles were randomized a bit. It's harder for it to become monotonous if it's never the same each time you enter.

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

Very clever ideas gang! We will be implementing a wide variety of challenges for all of you to enjoy. :)

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Challenges....like the defend-the-node leves out in The Black Shroud? Oh boy I cant wait! /sarcasm

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

Very clever ideas gang! We will be implementing a wide variety of challenges for all of you to enjoy. :)

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Like the Goblin Airman?

I also like having the boss challenges vary based on actions in the dungeon. Like perhaps a magitech shield protects a major boss making it weaker if you take the side route to disable the shield first. Make sure there is also a penalty tied to a weaker boss to make it so players strong enough may still prefer to keep the shield up, in this example.

Maybe you would find an advantage in crafters/gathers via distracting/disabling a boss by "tinkering" with a spot in the dungeon, while the main force goes in for the kill...

Or maybe a certain sub boss will support the main one, if it is not already killed? lots of possibilities here.

Quest chest: suprise monster in the chest, can i have it?

What if instead of a amount of gil, from time to time a weird monster would pop out of the chest? that would put some thrill. Monster could drop even more gil if defeted

absolutely. mimics must return to FF. oh, and treasure hunter abilities.

One of the things I always enjoyed in FF was completely exploring every cave and dungeon, because they were all different and they always had loot scattered about. This is definitely missing from FFXIV.

indeed. also, a map I actually had to chart by exploring that area, and some sort of rewarded achievement to confirm the whole map had been successfully explored would be nice.

One thing I def. don't wanna see again, was coffer/having to farm for keys ><!
If you bring keys back into the game, please make them more common, and not so time exhausting. Also I think random chests, instead of predetermined locations would be neat. I could feel the awh now of walking through a dungeon and seeing a chest, never knowing what I might get =P

You could always add something in dungeons for the non battle classes too.

e.g. - A giant boulder blocking a doorway or a false wall. A miner of sufficent rank is required to get through it. Even then if they fail the attempt a mob pops and auto engages (stopping that 1 char changing to a combat class and leaving the party at a disadvantage, that being the cost of failing).

BOT could do the same thing but with vines, wooden barricades.

FSH could have Bosses inside dungeons that are only accessible if "fished up" or "reeled in" with a % chance of trash mob dependent of the FSH lvl and stats.

That being said you only get one shot at achieving a succesful action. So one attempt at mining through that wall (fail = You hear falling rocks as the tunnel on the other side collapses), one attempt to cut down a tree that will create a bridge over a cravas (fail = log falls down the hole!) and one attempt to fish up that Boss (fail = Trash mob or item dependent on how critical the failure)

Just some ideas to throw in there!

Great ideas. There should be an interactive feel with dungeons. Raids maybe less so, but far more tuned encounters.

If there aren't going to be many there should be a random element. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to make the world a place to explore. I can see a bunch of stuff that's not implemented yet, but honestly you could get good gear and max ranks right now barely setting foot off the paths.

I would have liked the new dev team to make some sort of content, even a randomized tower to go party in... not like it would take very long to create.

And how about some actual gear choices lol, I think I have two main casting pieces and the rest could be anything really. Jewelry and other low def/stat items should have different HQ benefits because there are like zip right now.

I missed this topic apparentely, my bad. Totally agree with these kind of implementations in dungeons and chests to find. More interactive dungeons. Also secret passages to find/activate, to reach a treasure box or a secret NM/Boss. And if they would implement a jump like zelda, they could put some leaps and holes to surpass. Also timing jumps.. an example could be a floor that have falling parts or moving platforms to reach. I mean, fun dungeons with not only monsters to kill, with some good Exploration elements inside. :) (..and a lot of secrets to find!)

Also i was thinking, it would be nice to use torches or other type of lights to illuminate some darker parts of the dungeon (not the entire dungeon). They could create some very dark parts of dungeon in which it's totally dark (not possible to see with max brightness eh.. lol) and we can go with a source of light to find and activate levers/buttons, find chests and to procede through it. Devices you can't find only clicking around of course but only if you actually see it. You could fight mobs there without a light but you'll have a penalty to hit, like you are blind. The torches or other lights could have a different period of time before they turn off. And you could fire the bracers or torches on the wall to illuminate better the rooms and corridors (in a limited time).

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Originally Posted by Terabyt3

You could always add something in dungeons for the non battle classes too.

e.g. - A giant boulder blocking a doorway or a false wall. A miner of sufficent rank is required to get through it. Even then if they fail the attempt a mob pops and auto engages (stopping that 1 char changing to a combat class and leaving the party at a disadvantage, that being the cost of failing).

BOT could do the same thing but with vines, wooden barricades.

FSH could have Bosses inside dungeons that are only accessible if "fished up" or "reeled in" with a % chance of trash mob dependent of the FSH lvl and stats.

That being said you only get one shot at achieving a succesful action. So one attempt at mining through that wall (fail = You hear falling rocks as the tunnel on the other side collapses), one attempt to cut down a tree that will create a bridge over a cravas (fail = log falls down the hole!) and one attempt to fish up that Boss (fail = Trash mob or item dependent on how critical the failure)

Just some ideas to throw in there!

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That would actually be kinda awesome and give people even more incentive to experiment with other classes.

I love the idea of secret paths and traps added. Be kind of cool if you had multiple routes through a dungeon that offered different drops depending how you got through. Also I think maybe a trap that could split the group in half when one fights one boss and the other half fights another,(both linked so you get sp for both of course) could make it so people are more careful about what type of party they run through the dungeon with. Not just mages archer and a glad.. lol

Fun idea, I approve!

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Originally Posted by Rukkirii

Very clever ideas gang! We will be implementing a wide variety of challenges for all of you to enjoy. :)

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This sounds so much fun!! I can't wait!! :D Thank you for sharing Rukkirii!

Since the latest dungeon posts have revealed that there will be a 60 minute time limit to complete the dungeon (possible time extensions are likely for those who feel an hour isnt long enough to beat a dungeon or do certain requirements within the dungeon) as well as specific conditions to complete, hopefully that factors in puzzles, npcs to help, clearing all enemies in the dungeon, etc.

Nice that treasure chests will actually drop items too.

Another recent interview has shone more light on the dungeons, and as a result, we know that there will be various routes to completing a dungeon as well as time rewards. Would be great if pulling a hidden switch switch opened a secret door or makes a wall crumble in order to complete that specific route faster.

I really cant wait to see if there will be different bosses for the different paths.

Petition to use the Zelda "secret unlocked" chime for dungeon use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VapNvCXbRJg

:p

A chime would be nice ...these puzzles among other things are what can set XIV dungeons apart from other games.:cool:

Looking at 1.19 planned content, thank you Yoshi-P and team for going ahead with the implementation of treasure chests in the field/ open dungeons.