The Aurum Vale

[LunaTsukihime]

TL;DR the thread. Aurum Vale is a good dungeon. We've had enough instances receive unnecessary nerfs.


As someone that had the misfortune to run PotD 71-80 with you not even two hours ago, your definition of fun seems to be to getting carried. Your states of being are "afk," "afk sitting on the exit while it's locked," and occasionally "running by people engaged in combat to look for the exit to resume being afk." As a PLD with 99/99 Aetherpool.

Thanks for shining some light on this persons behaviour.

[Solarianna]

Sure, there are plenty of pieces of content which have been changed due to player reactions too them. I will cite a few more, the Bees in Amdapor Keep, and FATE scaling. And, there are plenty more that still should be addressed.

They are different situations. You're, I believe, mixing up situations in which the outcry from the playerbase was unanimous, or near-unanimous enough in that people believed said issues constituted a problem, which therefore justified an action from SE.

Aurum Vale is everything BUT unanimous. I see just as many people who love it as people who hate it. Aurum Vale's situation is very specific because it's the kind of content in which there's no middle term. Half of the people will absolutely hate it to its core ( hi ) , and the other half will love it to bits because of the exact reasons that the other half hates it. And vice-versa.
So the negative feedback, in this case, is very deep and sometimes aggressive. But just because it's loud, doesn't mean it's unanimous or close to it. It's pure personal preference.
Which means, it doesn't warrant the need for a change.

And as I said before, I'm not biased here. If there was a poll to ascertain how many people would prefer not to step foot in that place again, you'd find my name at the top of the list. But still I'm against the belief that there is this life-or-death need to change it, because I know I'm not more nor less valuable than any other player in the game, and I can very well appreciate that there are many players that love AV just as much as I hate it.
Just like, in the other side of the prism, earlier in this thread Doma Castle and The Vault were mentioned as dungeons that some people strongly dislike (which I already knew, because I have people in-game who I talk to, that share that opinion), and I personally love them both. In my opinion, best leveling dungeons in each respective expansion.

I can appreciate you disliking AV, especially because I hate it too, but I do not believe that in and of itself warrants the need to change anything about it. Unless the many people who like it suddenly change their mind and start hating it too for no reason.

[Avatre]

Aurum Vale is everything BUT unanimous. I see just as many people who love it as people who hate it. Aurum Vale's situation is very specific because it's the kind of content in which there's no middle term.

Hi, I'm someone who is indifferent to it. Same with Toto-rak. Don't care if I get those dungeons because I know someone in the group needed it for whatever reason. Always best to just power through it all and murder whatever comes your way(hopefully helping those new to it to understand the dungeon along the way)

[Canadane]

I love The Aurum Vale.
It can really show someone how playing smart works out well.

I love showing tanks the best place to pull and where people should stand.

It's odd we don't have more stuff to this level of challenge.

[Ashennae]

The game developers need to do something about Aurum Vale it must be the most hated of all the dungeons hands down. Please make it more rewarding and easier to complete.

The devs aren't going to change this instance just because a small handful of players dislike it. Hell, what's not to hate? It's yellow, there's poison everywhere, it's a chore to do, there are freakin' morbols everywhere, it releases one rare minion you can't get elsewhere and that's it, and it's only necessary if you wanna have GC squads or own a house. But if the devs are going to do something about it, they would have done so by now. Besides, it's not even that hard to do provided you've got a good group. Truthfully, Toto Rak is worse.

Also it's not really brag-worthy to state that you left a dungeon, especially since you're a mentor and completing Aurum Vale IS required to get max rank for your respective Grand Company.

[Solarianna]

*snip*

Hello o/

I can appreciate that for sure. When we're talking about possibility of changes we have to talk in majority terms and general consensus, rather than individuality. So my point is that AV is very divisive. It's easy to find someone who hates it, and it's easy to find someone who loves it. It's hard to find someone who is mostly indifferent like you, but I obviously acknowledge that there's that side too (even mentioned it about 3 pages ago).

Regarding your second point. Unless you're with 3 very competent premades, you can't quite power-through AV, especially the first room. But I personally don't mind that. The reason I hate AV (have explained it 2 or 3 pages ago so won't bore you again with it) has to do with visibility and visual appeal. I have absolutely no problem with the existance of dungeons that can't be steamrolled through unless during favourable circumstances. But that's my personal opinion, and it's only worth for what it's worth. The point I was trying to make to the person I answered to is that issues that are based on personal preference in which both sides have a meaningful representation can't be treated the same way as issues who are unanimously (or near-unanimously) agreed to constitute a reason for change.

[Darrcyphfeid]

Aurum Vale's situation is very specific because it's the kind of content in which there's no middle term. Half of the people will absolutely hate it to its core ( hi ) , and the other half will love it to bits because of the exact reasons that the other half hates it. And vice-versa.

I was a tank main in both ARR and HW, and fall squarely into the latter (loving) category. Aurum Vale was the culmination of the tanking learning experience, bringing into play everything the last couple of dungeons had been teaching. The difficulty of each individual monster is your feedback; if you pull too much, intentionally (room after Coincounter) or otherwise (first room, due to poor positioning), you're going to get punished. Hard. And that's sorta the point, so the divide is whether you like that aspect of it or you hate it. Which probably comes down to whether you love or hate the tank you have in that particular run, to be perfectly honest.

The fact that every dungeon after Aurum Vale throws away everything the middle through end of 2.0 was setting up is... unfortunate, if you ask me. Dusk Vigil sorta brings it back a bit with how stat scaling causes the monsters to hit like trucks again, but it's short lived.

Just like, in the other side of the prism, earlier in this thread Doma Castle and The Vault were mentioned as dungeons that some people strongly dislike (which I already knew, because I have people in-game who I talk to, that share that opinion), and I personally love them both. In my opinion, best leveling dungeons in each respective expansion.

The Vault is Aurum Vale: Healer Edition, so that makes sense with the above mindset.

Could be a number of different angles drawing Doma Castle into the crosshairs.

[Tridus]

Put me in the "love Auran Vale" camp. It punishes people that try to just zerg forward and mindlessly AoE everything at once. That's a good thing.

The fact that it's arguably the hardest dungeon in levelling and expert roulette combined is not a good thing, but that's on how absurdly easy stuff in expert is. Looking at you, Kugane Castle.

[Solarianna]

*snip*

Absolutely. And I play and leveled all 3 roles (with a severe preference for healer). But at the end of the day, regardless of reasoning, it's personal preference and to each his own.

Which is why I believe that just because some people are very passionate about the dislike they have for AV (me included, as I said), that in itself doesn't warrant a need for change. Such a suggestion is, in my opinion, very pretentious and self-serving. Especially when it's entertained by someone who goes as far as dropping off of roulette groups, as if their gaming experience isn't as valuable as his/her own. Even worse when such conduct is shown by someone who holds mentor status, which should be a mark for acknowledging other players' experience and willingness to lend them a hand in tasks that other people may perceive as boring.

Earlier I suggested to OP just to simply not queue to the leveling roulette if he/she doesn't like the fact that a roulette might take him/her to a dungeon that he/she dislikes. But after seeing some more of his/her reactions, it seems we're talking about someone who is either a troll (which makes the "how is this person a mentor" even worse), or someone who thinks that suggestion is unacceptable because "muh rewards".

[Gemina]

Anyone seen Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the scene where Vlad refers to the howling of the wolves as music that he enjoys, then Keanu is there all, "MUSIC!?"

THAT is The Aurum Vale, and the reaction typically given when I say that this dungeon is one of the most beautiful dungeons in the game. I've even decorated my home with some of the flora that can be found within it. This dungeon is absolutely perfect, and one of my favorites to get in roulette. I really wish SE would toss more dungeons like this one our way.

I do enjoy the difficulty here. I love that this place has earned its reputation. Some will say it's a tank check. Some will say it's a healing check. But to be honest, having played every role here, it's an everyone check. Regardless of how you feel about the difficulty here, this dungeon is one of the least forgiving for derps. If no one messes up, you'll get through it without breaking a sweat. But something as simple as a DPS taking the healer's fruit can wipe the party.

This is a dungeon that teaches players to "git gud!" Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING needs to be changed with AV. Don't you touch my precious AV!