Alternative to Duty Finder

[Lenne]

This is my first time posting my very own thread, so I'm very scared! I am not prepared to argue, debate, or even defend my idea in this thread. I know nothing of game development and I don't pretend to. I'm a painfully shy person and while I am opening myself up for criticism by posting this, I just thought I'd throw this idea out there. If you have additional ideas, whether it be in line with my idea or against it, please post them! Also, I know it's not up to me, but I'd like to keep it friendly and constructive in here. Thank you for bearing with me.

Here goes...

I'd like SE to implement a new system that allows players to enter a dungeon or battlefield with a pre-made party consisting of less than the maximum amount of people normally required, but does not fill the empty spots the way Duty Finder would. Also, when entering, it will allow the player queuing to select difficulty on a slider (like when starting levequests, except rather than by level, it would be by number of participants). Difficulty could not be set to any level easier than the total amount of people in there, meaning you cannot pick a difficulty of one or two if you're in a group of three, but it could be as difficult as if you had a light/full party, even if you queue up with less than the maximum.

I think allowing people to do things solo, or with a smaller group (or even with their chocobos!) would eliminate or reduce having to team up with strangers who don't share the same goal, just as you would experience with a PUG in Duty Finder (i.e. cutscene/no cutscene debate, to YouTube or not to YouTube, vote dismiss abuse, griefing, etc.). It will also eliminate the frustration for people who have difficulty filling parties via Party Finder, particularly for low-level dungeons. I know this is an MMORPG, but the masses tend to not agree with each other and being forced to team up randomly by way of Duty Finder just to get through content does not necessarily bring the community together, but creates a bad experience for both sides and a soured impression of the community in general.

Duty finder can be left as is for players who prefer to keep things as they are, to be played as it was intended with maximum group play. Duty Roulette should be left to Duty Finder only. Adding an alternative would allow other people to play more creatively, in a party set-up they desire, while not (potentially) being forced to team up with people who don't have the same mindset as they have. It has become apparent that compromise has become impossible in certain situations, as the compromise does not leave both groups satisfied. This is a game, so it should be enjoyed by everyone.

I'd like to see this put into place for any instances required to get through the main scenario quests or maybe just dungeons/battlefields in general. I don't think this should be done for raids, though I've never done one before, but I think this same style of instance would create an opportunity to put practice dungeons, raids, and battlefields into place too. Practice dungeons would not have loot.

I would imagine that this may be a monumental task, especially since all instances run through Duty Finder and fight mechanics will have to be adjusted to accommodate less people. I don't think it should be a flat out nerf, rather make it challenging but possible to beat it with less bodies. If it requires more strategizing on the players' part in order to pass with less players, I think players would actually welcome that challenge. I think some of the player base would enjoy figuring out the best job combinations, or maybe even mess around with classes in order to offer more party support with cross-class skills. This kind of freedom sounds exciting.

So in summary, adding this alternative to Duty Finder will help the new community get through content without the negative aspects of random team-ups, and give players the freedom to be creative with their party set-ups. I think it would make your players happier in the long run, which in my opinion, makes it worth the effort.

Edit: After thinking this through, I realized my intention of posting this thread was to see who would utilize this feature if it could be added; more of a desired play style, versus just using the game's existing features to get through content. (An "If you wanted to see a change, what you would change?" kind of thing) I have gotten through some content using Duty Finder, but I tend to stay in the open world, enjoying other aspects of the game. I did wonder if things would change with dungeons. So instead of wondering and waiting, I posted my idea, even though I now regret it lol. I truly appreciate the kind manner in which everyone posted. Thank you to those who commented and offered help and advice. But I guess this is a change not worth pursuing. How do I make this thread go away? lol

[TouchandFeel]

This is why they implemented Party Finder, so that people could find and form groups to do specific content with like-minded people.

As for them implementing difficulty scaling for dungeons and raid content, I think you provided the answer for why they will most likely not add it, it is a monumental task that would require them to go back and create multiple difficulty/balance variations to accommodate for this and they most likely feel that such time and effort is better spent creating new content.

Although being able to queue for df content with an incomplete group would be kind of neat just to see if you could clear content without a second dps or no tank or whatever.

[Lenne]

This is why they implemented Party Finder, so that people could find and form groups to do specific content with like-minded people.

As for them implementing difficulty scaling for dungeons and raid content, I think you provided the answer for why they will most likely not add it, it is a monumental task that would require them to go back and create multiple difficulty/balance variations to accommodate for this and they most likely feel that such time and effort is better spent creating new content.

Although being able to queue for df content with an incomplete group would be kind of neat just to see if you could clear content without a second dps or no tank or whatever.

Thank you for replying, TouchandFeel. Yeah, I just thought I'd put the idea out there, mainly to see if there were people who felt like me. But alas, as in real life, I stand alone lol. Whether it's actually possible to do or not, I really don't know. I'm just speculating. I just figured a new alternative would be better than asking for a complete overhaul on DF. I would assume asking for an overhaul would be a flat out "No."

I have yet to see Party Finder used for anything lower than end game content, especially since most people are finished with "old" content, but regardless, I just wish, like you said, that I could go into duty with less than the required maximum.

[TouchandFeel]

It's true that the vast majority of PF groups are for end-game content, but that's because a large portion of the community only care about that aspect of the game.

You are proof that there are some people that do care about doing other content with similar people, so my suggestion would be for you and others that want this to start creating listings in PF for these things and when people looking for such see it they will join.

If you build it they will come.

[Eye_Gore]

Too bad you aren't in Malboro, when I get the chance I'm going to be looking for people in the PF for the last 2 story mode dungeons, then some non story dungeons to finish off my GC rank.

[Lithera]

This is certainly something I'm sure they'll look at going forward. Just don't get your hopes too high for anything being applied retroactively. It could happen but most likely the approach would be similar to FFXI where they introduced something almost identical to this with the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion called Assault. They were 6-man usually 30 minute or less mini-dungeons that could be scaled in difficulty and attempted by as few as 3 people. They've revisited the concept in a few different ways with varying levels of success but the common thread is that the FFXI devs normally did not retroactively apply these systems to existing content