Playing an expansion as current content has been a lacklustre MMO experience

[R041]

It isn't not as if dungeons are as narrowly designed as they are solely because they decided against room for exploration, of all things. There's a good dozen other constraints there between "a curated environment-delving combat experience that features both bosses and non-boss packs" and what we actually see.

Not bothering with unrewarding side-rooms is fine -- probably even for the best, so long as that design approach doesn't extend into other areas; it's the many, many other ways and degrees of stale design in XIV's dungeons that ticks people off.

Right, it really comes down to HOW they designed those paths and rooms. Part of the problem was the room design was usually just 1 separated room with 1-2 mobs and a note? Ignore.

Instead, it should have been a fork with a decision of 2 big creatures, 10 little melee creatures, deadly traps and 2 range creatures. So you make decisions based on your comp and tank, and this encourages discussion. Not just for the sake of looking for some dungeon text.

I feel that WoW can be a bit extreme there, but their ability to have variety is way better and refreshing for the most part. We don't even have wandering packs anymore, nothing to avoid or manage. It all just happens, it's a guaranteed hallway and they all do the same exact thing. Even Variant, which they promised well.. VARIETY. Is absolutely horrible at this STILL.