Can s/e actually make a "dungeon"?

[TouchandFeel]

I don't think the proposed implementation is the way to go as crafted dungeon experiences will always be better than randomly generated stuff and puzzles in MMO's can be tricky things as some people will consider them too hard while others think they are too easy and once someone posts the solutions to the puzzles online and people start using those instead of solving them, they become an exercise in tediousness. Also longer dungeons does not necessarily mean they are better or more immersive, it just means that they are longer and it could easily alienate a percentage of the playerbase as not everyone has the time to do a two hour dungeon.

However, I do think it would be nice if they did add in some dungeons with some of these elements and even some level of randomness in them.

Elements that I think could help with this that are quite feasible:

- More traps in dungeons.
The sand burst traps in Cutter's Cry and the crystals in Darkhold were nice elements that added a bit more challenge and life to the dungeons. They could even take this up a notch with more difficult and interactive traps. For example there is a room that has gas vents on the walls. Every so often one of the gas vents begins to build pressure and displays it with a visual effect (like a small sputtering particle fx) and maybe even an on screen text prompt that says something like "a gas vent builds pressure". The party has say 3-5 seconds from when this starts to hit the vent with an attack to release the pressure or else the vent erupts and does a large nasty AoE radiating out from the vent.

- Randomized branching paths.
Branching paths exist in the dungeons already and it is nice, but it could be taken even further by making what branch is available randomized. So let's say when they do Cutter's Cry HM, they have a tunnel that comes to a dead end with a rock/switch you can interact with. When you interact with the rock a random dice roll is done behind the scenes and depending on the number generated, one of two paths opens up. Either the rocks blocking the passage disappear allowing you to move on through the passage or a sand whirlpool appears beneath you that pulls you down into a different tunnel system. This would make it so that each time the dungeon is run it will most likely be different.

- Randomized boss spawning.
This one is a little less feasible as it requires more content to be generated and tuned, but is still possible Here there would be two different bosses that could spawn for a boss encounter. Which boss is spawned is randomly determined when the boss room is unlocked. Some other alternatives to this are grouping this idea with the randomized branching paths so that boss A is down path A and boss B is down path B, or instead of having two completely different bosses having multiple variants of the same boss with different strategies, phases or adds.

[Sapphic]

I don't know, turn 8 in second coil they pretty much revolutionized their boss fights.

THE ARENA IS SQUARE! not round XD

Just kidding :P

[Gamex]

Nyzul Isle?

omfg yes!!! now THAT was a dungeon and NNI!!!???? talk about emotional roller coster w. Basically what this guy is asking is make it like FF11... truly hard "dungeons" no color coded scripted dungeons there XD

[WinterB]

Agree.
I want an adventure, not a run...

[Andevom]

People will *always* bypass all the "random fun" via some method that's discovered in a day or so.

MMM in XI was supposed to be about randomness, yet people were doing the same damn thing every time for the huge EXP bonus once they figured out how.

[Chrisbox]

I don't think 1-2 hours in length is the answer, but I do think more difficulty in dungeons would be a good thing.

[Eisenhower]

If Square were to make a dungeon like this, there would have to be a few rules [...]

Pretty much this. A segmented dungeon that holds rewards separated from the mainstream tomes and gear would be the most viable solution in my opinion. Like the title from BCoB Brutal. If you place cosmetics or housing items in there, you can be damn sure people will end up farming it anyway. Finding a good incentive that doesn't fall into farming will be difficult.

Right now, the "dungeons" we face are more akin a gauntlet of monsters with a chest at the end. Halatali HM was an interesting twist when it comes to the nature of the enemies we fight, but that's about it. To have a challenge-dungeon akin to Qarn, but with a sprawling, maybe even procedural map would be very fun. Having traps or environments that require you to have a certain class or take another path would be cool as well. Like a pit that a dragoon can jump over and then lower a bridge for the group or a set of locks that requires a Fire spell to open.

I think those that find this kind of content enthralling also prefer content that has a certain amount of replayability and novelty with each new run.

[Kryptoghost]

Isn't Brutal mode going to solve this issue. you have a single fight with RNG events.

Honestly a 1-2 hour dungeons becomes a 1 time thing. have your fun and forget about it because farming it is out of the question.

and titan ex mode is hard enough if just 1 person fails, a 1 -2 dungeon where someone doesn't get the concept would be murder.