Dungeon/Cave exploration. How I miss thee.

[Vydos]

Here we are, nearing the end of 2.0 storyline and readying ourselves for the next expansion 3.0.
And I’m sitting here reminiscing about everything that was 2.0. Storyline, adventures, dungeons and so on. And I notice that I’m left with a certain unfulfilled void and weighted heart when I think back about a certain raid dungeon.

Yes, I’m here to talk about the famed “Crystal Tower” raid. And using that as an example for the rest of this.

The very first time that CT was announced, I was overjoyed. A giant tower that would reach the heavens itself, filled with a wave of terrifying monsters to beat. Especially when recalling the original crystal tower. But before I go negative on this. Let me just make this clear, I did enjoy all the 3 raid instances. It was a fun experience and props to S-E for making it.

However… it was not what I expected. (No shock there, nothing never is.)
I was hoping to explore this massive dungeon with a group of people. Exploring the massive tower that is CT and the surrounding Labyrinth of the ancients. I remember standing at the last room after defeating Phleg…-(SOMETHING!) and staring at the CT in the background. Hoping that I’d be able to walk around the gardens surrounding the place, gazing up onto the tower from up close. Only to suddenly find my character at the front doors of Syrcus Tower itself…

There were times that I stood in front of Amon or Glasya Labolas. Watching back at the long massive stairway. And saying to myself “I kinda wish I actually ran up all those stairs, maybe even fought some interesting things”. You know…actually explore the damned place with my character. Instead of zone in, zone out. Why not make it in a way that we’re running up the stairs, fighting adds while one of the dragons occasionally flies up, causing a sudden gush of wind. Or stopping mid-air to spout flames at us.

Why not make Glasya Labolas call us out from his platform, while his mechanical devices lock us in place. Only for others to break them. Maybe add a timer that people need to rush in time to his fighting platform or die a horrible dead.

I admit that I was hoping a similar experience to FFXI – Qufim tower in terms of exploration. Which brings me to everything else in the game. I really miss the sense of exploring a cave, dungeon. Anything for that matter. I already visited every nook and cranny of the world map. And there were some great views to enjoy. But I want to lose myself in some dark cave or dungeon.

I’m just wondering if there are other people like me, or if I’m a specie on the brink of extinction lol.

[Meier]

Yup, I feel nearly the same way.

This game is lacking open world dungeons and exploration atm. I thought the same thing about CT. lol even looked at the stairs like you did and was wishing my friends and I could explore the place more ;;

[LaurelinKementari]

I quite agree. As a big fan of FF III, I loved the three Crystal Tower raids for the gorgeous tribute they paid to the original game, as well as their music and aesthetic design, but as dungeons they could have been so much more. System and time constraints, I guess...

[ArcaviusGreyashe]

You're not alone on this, but there's definitely less and less players that enjoy the game the way you do. Most people want their stuff quickly (and therefore continuously ask for the devs to change the RNG in WoD, for example) and the exploration becomes gradually an "elitist" thing... you know, something for those weird people that actually enjoy doing nothing, getting lost, reading cutscenes... Pff, what nonsense ! What's more important is having a great stuff as quickly as possible and beat the game, si you can move on to another game you won't enjoy !

That's what may kill MMOs (or even video games...), but we can't do much against it.

[Munba]

I'm greatly agree.
Need much more exploration in dungeons and not only battles in corridors to reach the end..

Open dungeons would resolve in part this.
edit:New dungeons with multiple paths would be nice too.

[Inuk9]

Thas why I like Wandere's Palace (normal). Something in that dungeon is so misterious with multiple paths and a psycho chasing you xD

[RuruKun]

I feel the same exact way. Often times I find myself exploring ST or WOD when i get the chance (looking down those stairs man in ST lol I get vertigo sometimes), or any other dungeon.

and when a dungeon instance is over, i noticed that we're being timed to, what, leave the instance I guess? I've always wondered after a dungeon run if it was possible to go back and look around. IDK if we can, I never tried. Can we do that? never noticed before, I've always just left the instance when it was over.

[RhynAzullo]

I feel the same exact way. Often times I find myself exploring ST or WOD when i get the chance (looking down those stairs man in ST lol I get vertigo sometimes), or any other dungeon.

and when a dungeon instance is over, i noticed that we're being timed to, what, leave the instance I guess? I've always wondered after a dungeon run if it was possible to go back and look around. IDK if we can, I never tried. Can we do that? never noticed before, I've always just left the instance when it was over.

You can go back and look around, yes (and grab any chests that were left behind). If there's a one-way zone line you can use Return to go all the way back to the start of the instance. I think you have about 10 minutes after finishing the instance before it kicks you out. At least that's the case with dungeons.

[Nashred]

Yea the dungeons are pretty cookie cutter too. They have 3 bosses that dont roam around and are locked in a area, then their are trash mobs in between. Most only have on route through too. The dungeons are beautiful for sure they are just starting to feel a little generic and I wish SE would start to use a little imagination on them. I hope with the new expansion they add some variety.

[Xatsh]

would love to see large dungeons that are not linear with optional stuff in them. Sub Boss 1 => Sub Boss 2 => Main Boss => Done.

Same goes for raids. Both CT and ST are more or less 4 trash mobs => Main boss fight => a few trash Mobs => Main Boss Fight => Main boss Fight => Final Boss Fight. Give us something bigger with more stuff to do then just kill instance bosses. I guess something more like a traditional raid and not a Instance boss fight like BCNMs/KSNMs in XI.

Linear = Bad honestly. In almost every where it is put into development. It is just too shallow and way way too much on rails. One of the reasons FFXIII did so poorly was the linear design of every level more or less. What made the older FF games so popular they were massive with multiple objectives and side objectives. So what if it takes several goes at a dungeon to do everything in it. That is a good thing.