FFXIV dungeons are a little bit too linear?

[Jeykama]

Disagree WoW created vanilla Blackrock Depths, Stratholme, Molten Core, and other huge nonlinear dungeon zones like that. But yeah on the topic of BRD...

Blackrock Depths was a beautiful nonlinear dungeon full of quest objectives, unlocking doors, and tons of optional bosses. It was also home to a raid instance entrance and a vital forge deep within for crafting epics. It had a lot of verticality so by virtue of that the map was awful and unhelpful. I didn't play vanilla, but I hear a top to bottom clear took 4-6 hours to get to the final boss Thaurissan, and even if you just wanted to zerg to Thaurissan it took at least an hour assuming no one got lost.

It was a masterpiece of dungeon engineering but way too damn long and involved for an instanced dungeon. The only way I could see this working in FF's more bite-size content style would be sort of like Diadem - you start at a certain point in a BRD-size dungeon and are given an objective nearby to clear, then you get there.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

FFXIV is a textbook MMORPG of the conventions of the past decade. Doesn`t like to sail away too much from the more traditional formulas. Linear instanced dungeons are heritage of this era and FFXIV just sticks with what works.
Exploration in my MMORPG? What is this 2004?

MMORPG today are more MMO than RPG, what works is quick, linear and steamlined content. Exploration and alternatives just waste developing resources. Hopefully the east is sending a few MMORPGs this way that go back a bit in time, to open world dungeons and more diverse ways to play the same instance dungeon.

[Magis]

My guess, the time WoW launched

As I mentioned above; surprisingly nope! Course some dungeons WERE linear (Scarlet Monastery for example) but there were a lot of exploration zones as well.

Black Rock Depths (it's difficult to get an idea from above like this because there are multiple levels):



Stratholm:



Zul'Gurub:

[Cabalabob]

This is another illusion of choice issue. Tam Tara used to be longer and had optional bosses and branching paths in beta. But people didn't care about them and just went straight to the end, so they shortened it and made dungeons more linear. And even if it was branching paths to reach the boss, only a handful of people would get to enjoy the mystery, as once it had been explored everyone would know the best route to take and there would just be animosity towards new people who want to complete their map.

[SchalaZeal]

I'm actually surprised there haven't been more complaints about the linearity after FFXIII's release (because everyone and their dogs were bashing it for how linear the maps were, and that you could see how linear it was on the minimap).

Funny how people didn't seem to think FF7 was linear, although it only gave you one path to progress. You just had the option to backtrack (but no real reason to for 90% of the game). Fort Condor was optional and could be ignored, and 2 characters could also be ignored or never gotten. But the entire path westward to rocket city and then eastward to Temple of the Ancients, are linear. By the time you need to find your (only way) to Icicle place, it's the only place you haven't visited, besides possibly Wutai (but I'd do it later, with a flying airship). And people didn't pan it for being linear.

My guess, the time WoW launched

When they went from openworld dungeons everyone can compete in to instanced dungeons where everyone has their own private things and where griefing/camping is harder to do.

[Iskander]

The solution could be quite simple if one would think about it. Here's some food for thought:

Dungeons could be made non-linear and with multiple rewards. They'd have to pull some ideas from other games (like wow), but it'd be possible.

Have multiple branching paths that overlap in places, and several bosses scattered throughout the dungeon. Not just the ffxiv standard of 3 bosses per dungeon...but maybe like 6 or 7 bosses in the dungeon. In order to get to a boss, you may have to go down path C which requires you to do something to 2.0 toto-rak and the little balls of light. You gather them, you get access to that boss. Said boss drops a chest that pulls it's rng loot from the gear loot table for that dungeon. More bosses, more loot.

Of course, that would just make people take the straightforward path to the endboss. Which is why one little dungeon mechanic would need to be added. RNG DOORS!

Imagine you start the dungeon, and you go forward. You immediately find yourself with 3 paths before you. Except that this instance, the dungeon loaded with paths 1 and 2 closed. You have to go down path 3 which takes you a certain way. Next time you enter the dungeon, doors 2 and 3 are closed. Guess what?! You're going down a new path! You'd technically be able to fight all the bosses in the dungeon if you EXPLORE (OMG), but even if you decide that you want to try and just rush it, your rng doors will make sure that you'll be taking different paths each time.

i.e. you'll fight 3 bosses before the end boss, and there are 6 bosses not including endboss. One run you'll fight 1, 4, 6. Another you'll fight 2, 3, 5. Another you'll fight 1,2,4. Ta-da! You're dungeon just got interesting. Why? Because there are multiple paths, and which paths are unlocked are randomly determined the instance is loaded.

[Averax]

The problem is the players. Nobody wants to do all the extra turns and corners if they don't have to. They want to get in and get out asap.

[DPZ2]

Having played Wow from BC onwards, I think it's a pretty silly idea to go all gung-ho for multi-level, multi-path dungeon instances. Back in the days when maps were NOT supplied, instances like Mauradon were an exercise in frustration -- nobody wanted to go through them because (a) they got lost (b) purple or orange pathway first? (c) it took waaaay to long. Finding a party for that instance (which was a leveling instance) was problematic, although I will give you points if you played through it in 1.x, as there really wasn't much to do if you couldn't find a raiding party back then.

As far as those suggesting the 'scenic route' ... just try taking the time to read the texts in Gubal Library some time while in a daily DF. See how long you get to admire the scenery. Sheesh.

[Bremic]

For premade group, Diadem-style content? Sure. But I would under no circumstances make a dungeon as long and complex looking as the pics on the front page for simple roulette style dungeons. The thought of slogging through one of those labyrinths with 3 other idiots who can't play their jobs sends chills up my spine.

[Nestama]

What SE could do is give dungeons different pathways per run. It'll still be a linear pathway, but instead of going down the exact same road, you might have to go in a different direction and fight a different mini-boss. Final boss could also be different, but only if everyone in the party has finished the dungeons quest.

Pathway roulette in your Expert roulette.