Does else anyone miss "open dungeons"? Old FFXIers?

[Luminessence]

Now bear with me, but I basically wanted to ask the community something, to FFXI players, non-FFXI and current XIV players:

To FFXI players, d'ya remember open dungeons that you could zone into? Like Garlaige Citadel or Gusgen mines? Or higher level ones like Boyahdah Tree and Gustav Tunnel? Fighting monsters in these zones always felt special and much more dangerous. Especially when soloing.

To those of you whom didn't play FFXI, the dungeons in FFXI were accessible at any time and there was no time limit. You just zoned in as if it were any other area. To me it gave me a very "adventurous" feeling.

I absolutely love the dungeons as they are, but I'd love to be able to stroll through areas like this without only seeing them during DF or for 90 minutes.

So, the question I ask is, what's your take on "open dungeons" and "closed dungeons" like the ones that exist in FFXIV as of now, and if so, would you perhaps like to see open dungeons in FFXIV?

[Doo]

Aww yes, running around Daovi, Castle Oztroja, Castle Zvahl, etc for coffers to obtain my AF while dodging incredibly tough mobs left and right.

[Dannythm]

The original version had stuff like this, as it had more in common with XI.

And was intended to have more.

Now we have ARR, and we don't like to stress new players, so I doubt it'll ever happen.

But me? Want it? a mroe dangerous open world with stuff worth doing? Yes of course! bring it back!

[RowanLauron]

Ah garbage shitadel. I miss those days you sit on a switch on the first door while waiting for an exp pt to camp in front of it to let you in

[Sotek]

Most of the quests leading to dungeons have us clearing them out for whatever reason. I think it would be amazing if, after clearing them out, they become a zone we can regularly enter. Sort of how like Chains of Promathia handled various areas. This would achieve a few things;

• The world would seem much larger.
• Areas like Brayflox's Longstop should have a community of Goblins living in it after clearing it, which gives potential for new shops, even new quests.
• As well as that, there is potential for more Gathering locations, including new materials and fish to obtain. Would also work very nicely with the new Treasure Hunts feature for DoL.
• New FATEs/Hunting Logs/etc. Remember how they had to add more sheep to Coerthas due to overcamping? Well, there are plenty of dungeons they could use for the same purpose.
• Since Copperbell Mines (Hard) has us excavating deeper into the mines, it would also lead into such quests better. Rather than "We dug deeper" and you're still running to the same entrance, we'd have "We dug deeper, go to the dig site".

They could even spice it up a bit with some areas, like Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium, which

should be a smoldering crater after we clear them.

[cearka]

I have fond memories of all the time I spent in arrapago reef.

[ApolloGenX]

Yes I do.... the floor switch thing... not so much... but the Delfutt's Tower... the Citadel... I totally miss the EQ ones.... Karnor's... Velk's Lab... Old Sebilus... Chardok... Unrest....Mistmoore.... they were all so fun. Greig's End. Ahhh...fond memories...

[Luminessence]

Garbage Shitadel, haha. That name brings back memories!

But yes. I mean the main reason why I miss open dungeons so much is because I want to be able to take some time to explore them on my own. Solo a few of the NMs that may spawn there and such. I don't know, but it's just the immersion of zoning into a tunnel and then having to wriggle your way through it that makes the nostalgia in me buzz again. Haha.

[Luminessence]

Sotek, that's a fantastic idea!

[ApolloGenX]

It wasn't just the exploring... they REALLY scaled in difficulty. The entrance might have level 15 mobs, but the bottom floors might have level 30 mobs. If you went exploring with a group, the further in you went, the more you were tested.

Oh sure, many times you ended up gating out entirely or wiping... but the fun was pushing to see how far you could go... or heck, just hanging out at a certain level while other level players were in another place.. and you could talk. Then there were the named mobs that would drop decent loot for the level.

I remember invissing and running to loot a scaled bracer for my cleric in Karnor's because the group camping the hand already had it and shouted for someone to come loot it. Getting there was frantic and scary.

Current instances are just for a small level range and you generally just blow through it... you don't have to come back in 10 + levels when you are actually able to get to and kill the big bad boss.