DPS need alternative to Dungeons Pre-50

[Fendred]

Basically for the same reason we need it in any other MMORPG. The distribution of tanks and healers to dps is always far less than dps, so it is not reasonable time wise for dps to do dungeons, whether they do it for cool looking gear or an alternative activity to solo questing/Fates.

Perhaps have people be able to bring Chocobos into dungeons (I've heard of plans to implement this), or explore other, non-combat ways of handling encounters. How about finding a way to deal with the bandits other than outright killing them? Bartering and negotiation are staples of RPGs and they can make for an interesting story telling experience, if not a different way of structuring encounters. If you think about it, encounters where tanks and healers are unavailable would require DPS to rethink how they handle encounters. Should they risk life and limb to defeat the guard, or should they try to reason with him, distract and sneak by him, or get others to fight him for you?

I hope that if the devs deal with the issue, we can see more roleplaying game staples introduced to the game in place of pure combat encounters. It certainly would be a welcome addition, in my opinion.

[Squa]

this would also just encourage the increased imbalance of DPS classes

[Fendred]

this would also just encourage the increased imbalance of DPS classes

That would only be true if it were specifically designed with DPS in mind. I'm talking about non-combat encounters or combat encounters where they have to use resources effectively without the presence of a tank or healer. The problem is, you can never force people into playing roles they do not want to perform. WoW attempted to create a job called the Deathknight that was supposed to appeal to an audience fond of hitting for big numbers with big weapons, but didn't really solve the tanking issue. Guild Wars instead opted to try getting rid of the strict holy trinity for a "jobless" system, which turns all of combat into a zerg fest (swarm tactics for those unfamiliar with the term). That really leaves non-combat encounters as the way to go.

I think it would be a welcome change of pace, to be honest. Diplomacy, stealth, racing, and platforming all offer alternative encounters that don't necessarily require a tank and healer.

[Caraway]

Non-combat encounters are definitely nice but unfortunately I doubt they will fix the issue you're trying to address mainly because historically few people took advantage of those things.

Look at the disparity between crafters/gatherers and adventurers for example. Another game I played, Vanguard, had another sphere of advancement called Diplomacy (it was played like a card game) and it too wasn't heavily played.

Most people want to hit things, I suspect.

[Alexia89]

Allow people to race to 50 without doing dungeon content?

One problem I can see this causing- inexperienced players getting no practice with their class and dungeon mechanics, jumping into lvl 50 content and being totally crushed.

[Fendred]

Non-combat encounters are definitely nice but unfortunately I doubt they will fix the issue you're trying to address mainly because historically few people took advantage of those things.

Look at the disparity between crafters/gatherers and adventurers for example. Another game I played, Vanguard, had another sphere of advancement called Diplomacy (it was played like a card game) and it too wasn't heavily played.

Most people want to hit things, I suspect.

To be honest though, crafting is kind of repetitive and boring after a while. It really doesn't have enough substance to it in terms of story for players to pursue it in earnest and the end game incentives really aren't there for people looking for the highest end gear.

As for dps rushing to 50 and not knowing how to do things... that has already been happening. It isn't going to make it worse to offer other modes of play.

Edit: It should be noted that non-combat mechanics are already in the game, but that they are not fully realized as something that can reward the player or appear unintentional. For instance, in Cutter's Cry and Bahamut's Coil Turn 3, it is possible to "race" the enemy targets to the finish instead of engaging them in combat. It's actually a pretty fun change of pace in terms of Bahamut's Coil Turn 3, and in Cutter's Cry it offers a way for players to sneakily complete the dungeon faster. Another example is the guildhest where the objective is to put the giant turtle to sleep, or how in Castrum Meridium you hit the lights to make guards go away.

[Oxide_Vanwen]

While I think your idea is good it's simply not feasible. Granting special permissions to people who choose to play DPS roles will cause an imbalance as previously stated. People who choose to play tanks and/or healers do so knowing that there will be situations where they will catch all kinds of grief for things outside of their control. Choosing to avoid that sort of attention and deciding to strictly play DPS classes while being able to skip dungeon content should not be allowed.

[Hatsee]

Leves would be fine for this if they adjusted the exp on them upwards a bit more.

[juniglee]

I think one good way is to have a battleleve that rewards you exp for killing more stuff. The bonus reward should be significant enough to want to play a tank/healer over a DPS. Make it just a little bit slower than dungeons, so that it doesn't phase out dungeons as the go-to for EXP, but at least significant enough to make people want to do it.

Ie. a kill-as-many-sheep-as-you-can leve that runs for 20 minutes. You can kill as many as you like, turn it in when you feel like it, and you get rewarded based on how many you killed.

[Squa]

I think one good way is to have a battleleve that rewards you exp for killing more stuff. The bonus reward should be significant enough to want to play a tank/healer over a DPS. Make it just a little bit slower than dungeons, so that it doesn't phase out dungeons as the go-to for EXP, but at least significant enough to make people want to do it.

Ie. a kill-as-many-sheep-as-you-can leve that runs for 20 minutes. You can kill as many as you like, turn it in when you feel like it, and you get rewarded based on how many you killed.

These already exist in the game Some of the leve's, its like "Kill at many in 5 minutes as you can, each kill above the minimum gives bonus rewards." I am not sure how prevalent they are, maybe 10% of the leve's are like this or 5%