[Fortified] New Dungeon Idea

[Rubieus]

Currently, we have these types of dungeons.

Normal (Satasha)

Hard Mode (Satasha Hard)

MSQ (Dungeons that don't get a Hard Mode but are a bit more difficult than other dungeons)

I propose we add a bit of excitement to old and new content by implementing a system similar to the WoW Mythic+ Keystones.

However, the process would be different than what "they" have in place.

Let's look at what our economy has in abundance, Materia? Old crafting mats? Gil?

For our new dungeons to work, they would need to have a form of upgrades that require the said item slot. Each dungeon then turns into a deadlier, shinier and more rewarding version of itself.

Rules for Fortified Dungeons:
Always ilvl synced, wipe and you are kicked (like PoTD)
Can only be created through PF (for the time being)
Ilvl will be consistent with the level of Fortification.

Edit Clarification: The Ilvl sync will always be equivalent to the difficulty of the dungeon. This allows you to fight a higher tiered dungeon with better gear but prevents you from over-gearing.

These dungeons will have a new currency system in place. It would be similar to those at a Fair or Carnival, each time you clear, you will gain a token, trading in X tokens nets you a higher tier dungeon upgrade, continual upgrades will increase the difficulty of the dungeon, which in turn increases drop rates and unlocks rare rewards. (IE: Satasha Seashell Tier 1 Base Rewards, Satasha Seashell Tier 2 x.25% drop rate, Satasha Seashell Tier 3 .25% drop rate +1 Treasure Chest, etc)

The Price:
Each slot will require a substantial amount of points worth of X to fill per adventurer, I.E: 1,000 points of Materia, 1,000 points of Crafting Materials, 100,000 Gil.

Tier 1 Materia; is worth 10, Tier 2 50, Tier 3 100, Tier IV 200, Tier V 500.
Crating Materials are worth their NPC sell back price divided by 10: 100 Gil item = 10 points.

Edit: The Price for each Tier will be different as the risks and rewards will increase as well.

The Story:
The Beastmen, City-States, and various other friendlies want to strengthen and convert the various dungeons into strongholds/hamlets. To do this, they need supplies and lots of it. With the constant threat of Primals and outsiders (Garlemald), they beseech you to aid them in creating such a place.

After you pay your portion of the quest, you receive a token which you need in order to enter the new dungeon [Fortified] Amdapor Keep, for example.

This will have completely new mechanics to deal with, not just killing monsters, mini-bosses and then the last boss.

It will have puzzles to solve, riddles to solve, deadlier monsters to fight, traps! and a boss fight worthy of the price tag.

Edit Clarification:
Puzzles: When I think of puzzles, I picture 3 magic pots, one has an imp inside, you trigger the event and play something similar to 3 card monte, a failure may reduce your skills for an amount of time. Other puzzles might include a small jumping game/switches that might involve the party to split up to hit /stand on 3 different platforms at the same time while the 4th touches the door.

Mechanics:

Forced Job Change: You might be required to change to a Gatherer/Crafter inside the dungeon to complete a side quest. Inability to do so will make progression significantly harder. (Create a poisoned stew for the next boss, make potions of bar-fire to protect from massive fire dot)

Riddles: Word games, Picture games, a memory game or even a short quiz, similar to the Quiz Monster in FF IX (Ragtime Mouse), they ask you questions and if you X then you suffer, a correct answer lets you continue unhindered.

Traps!: Some monsters should be avoided, hitting them deals 0 damage and they might kill you. A jumping puzzle or even a CC of sorts could help you get passed them. Other Unique Monsters might shut off your UI for 10-20 seconds. 3 switches on the wall, 2 could be deadly. A false door that leads to a disadvantaged fight. Also the traps from PoTD were pretty sweet.

Deadlier Monsters: Aside from the obvious HP/Damage, monsters could have unique mechanics such as /pray to remove their buffs, require stun/silence to prevent additional mobs being summoned. A limit break bar cued to physical/magical damage dealt. Monsters that create environmental hazards throughout the rest of the dungeon depending on their death knell. (death by magic, mp drain miasma, physical tp drain miasma) I also liked the unique monsters in Diablo, some were resistant to physical/magical etc. It would be nice to have that sort of thing.

I think about the dungeon should be changing, just slightly but just enough, similar to POTD, not every area is the same, so no 2 dungeon excursions should be the same. Unique Monsters, and "side quests" are generated randomly. In an essence, it would be a reskin of the current PoTD levels, but they would be inspired by dungeons like Satasha (water, grotto) Amdapor Keep (Castle walls, gloomy skies)

The Loot:
Be honest, how many of you skipped all that to see what was in this portion first?

Let's face it, the rewards have to be epic. Your party just spent half a million Gil in resources to complete this quest. Your reward?

Job Specific Gear that grants real bonuses to skills you own. Set bonuses, Sets that have conversions (similar to FFXI +10mp/-10hp) etc.
Glamours from previous FF games (Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis outfits. Kefka outfit) /SE Games that have the FF feel. (Bravely Default; most of the jobs had unique outfits., Dragon Quest)
Chocobo Bardings such as Moogle Mail Courier, Scion themed choco barding,
Unique mounts based on the dungeon being Fortified.
Ochestrian Roll: Faerie Battle (FFIX)- Soken Remix
Hair Styles
New Collector Item: Stickers (Think Minions, but stickers are worn on your clothing like FC symbol) What kind? All the kinds!
Tattoos

In conclusion:
We all want the same thing. to have fun, but if the content is too easy, we burn through it and get bored. If it is too difficult, we doubt the reward is worth the effort. With this implementation, you get to decide how much you are willing to risk, for the rewards within.
If you liked this idea, you know what to do, If you don't tell me what you'd change.
If you are here because servers are down, Well they're not, so go back to grinding your ponies, pigeons, and doggies!

Community Ideas:

KaldeaSahaline: Thanks for asking questions. Also for sharing your own idea: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Eureka-Concept

Rilifane: How about this as rewards?
- gear (obviously) - exclusive gear/ skins welcome
- tokens so RGNesus can't screw you TOO hard or crafting mats to craft an exclusive item of your choice
- exp tomes to level your alts and/ or (perhaps as a choice similar to Khloe's rewards) things like Materia token, HQ buff food etc. Nothing big, more like a little bonus.

Keridwyn: All you need are various rewards of various prices. The more rewards you have, the more you entice collectors to earn all of them. Or you make them quality crafting mats and require x2 or x3 of the materials to make things. give it unique rewards including unique crafting materials for BRAND NEW items. Not the ability to craft cash shop items.

[SenorPatty]

So, if I understood this correctly, you pay up a form of "currency" to enter a ramped up old dgn to get better loot?

[msfakefur]

Loot boxes are like the worst kind of reward ever. Probably, a lot of players would rather buy the items with actual cash than going through lengths of obtaining them in game... if the reward was some kind of item not related to the cash shop maybe it would be better

[Awful]

If that's the case why not just borrow from WoWs Mythic+ dungeon ideas? Where you can have modifiers and timers on the dungeon for better loot it's easier to put into the game than putting cash shop items.

This gives casuals/mid cores/raiders chances at getting better gear while running Mythic+ dungeons every week and giving them a reason to do so other than glamour.

Yeah it's nice but then gil/loot boxes are more incentivised towards gil spammers making gil more appealing to those kind of target audience which is out of SEs control unless they get caught, not to mention if I want the Lyse outfit then why don't I just buy it instead of wasting all my gil at a chance for it?

[Krotoan]

Interesting..
something for those people who say that cash shop stuff isn't available to them because they have time but no money AND something for the "omg no hardmode" people smushed into one. Add on a decent Gil Price for a "certificate" componant for entry or something and you have a good Gil sink too.

As long as this is optional content and has nothing locked behind it that can't be obtained by other means (cash shop is fine) I'm all for it. More content with less Dev investment is always nice.

[Keridwyn]

You want to add loot boxes?

Hard Pass.

The idea of fortified dungeons with improved loot is a good one. Make it have plenty of boxes full of shiny things and have it drop a token that people can spend on even shinier rewards. But no thank you to more RNG.

[Rubieus]

@SenorPatty Yes
@msfakefur The main issue is that gear is plentiful, endgame already fills the role of "gear" The only items that we don't have access to is cash shop.
@Awful That is the goal, however I wanted a way to burn of resources we already have. Why add a new key item when our inventories and retainers are full of old clutter we "hope" we be reused later and never is.

I know nobody likes Loot Boxes and I would gladly accept a "token" system like we currently have but is that any better? 7 weeks of clearing Fortified for one piece of ilvl X?

As for why? I already spend money on this game, to play this game. Having to pay 25$ for glamour gear is insane. That's 2 months worth of subscription.
Not everyone has that kind of money to throw around.

[Rubieus]

@Krotoan this is most definitely not locked behind anything other than having already cleared older content. (AK, AK hard etc) The reward is the dungeon itself, something fresh, new, challenging, plus the chance at Cash shop items.

@Keridwyn It's an MMOrpg, RNG will always exist. A token idea is fine too, but you'd have to collect several weeks worth of tokens to get something.

[Fredco191]

Hmm I dunno. Will Fantasias be in these loot boxes?

[Rubieus]

@Fredco191 It would be up to the devs but I don't see why they wouldn't. The idea is to give players a chance to get cash shop items without paying RL money for it, but due to the value of the reward, the risks are higher.