DEV. TEAM: Gathering Dungeon Runs Ideas

[Naraku_Diabolos]

I had an idea just now of a neat concept for gathering dungeons. Here me out!

The idea of a gathering dungeon may seem moot since we had Diadem and all. However, I thought of something that could be very simple for the dev. team. They don't have to essentially create all new dungeons, per se, but the idea of a gathering dungeon is pretty simple. Basically it can take the dungeons that we already have, but us players would have to use stealth and solve clues to going further into a dungeon.

There will be monsters, yes, but not a whole ton. We would be using Stealth through getting through the dungeon, and to get through most areas, we would have do a puzzle with a cursor and whatnot. Think of it as the Risings' puzzle we had not long ago, however you were to use a tool to either uncover something like a switch, or gather a specific item and place it somewhere to open up a path. Dungeons would also have gathering nodes everywhere, and what you would have to do is gather as much as you can within a time limit. The time limit wouldn't be 60 minutes or such, maybe a little shorter. If we do encounter monsters, it would be a mini-game of sorts: kind of like the Safari Zone in Pokémon R/B/Y, in which you throw a bait so that a monster is preoccupied and won't chase you for a certain amount of time, but using a rock or something can cause it to aggro you. Here's the thing about aggro on the monsters: they will have AOE, and if you lure a monster to an area where there's a hidden door or some mechanism you cannot get through, the monster attack will then open it (think in Pokémon when you used Cut on a bush). Even the AOE could uncover a new gathering node for you. Reaching the dungeon's end is where you get main loot for that dungeon that can be items used for crafting, like the damaged ones we get in regular dungeons, as well rarer crafting item/materials.

This idea is better for Botanist and Miners, but Fishers can go to a dungeon that has water as well. This idea could also be interesting if there were to ever be dedicated AF gear and tools for DoL! Certain items would require a trade-in to obtain rare items you can use to meld and forge an AF tool or gear.

An idea for Fishers would be...boat rides! Yeah, yeah, we've had this before! However, it can also be a type of dungeon that's exclusive for Fishers. The boat ride can last 25 minutes, and that's how long the dungeon lasts. Or you can unlock longer boat rides. On the boat, there will be a certain kind of currency that you can obtain. You'll get basic bait at first with your rod. However catching certain fish, you can trade them into the currency on the boat to get better bait and lures. You can keep the fish you want after you catch them when the boat ride dungeon is over, but it depends on what kind and how many rare fish you can catch. You can then use those rare fish for either cooking or your aquariums in your FC Estate or House.

Ul'dah: Sand fishing
Limsa Lominsa: River fishing, deep sea fishing
Gridania: Lake fishing, river fishing
Ishgard regions: Sky fishing
Gyr Abania (sp?): River, lake, sand fishing
Hingashi: River, lake, ocean fishing

What does everyone think?

[Riko_Futatabi]

I like the idea of queuing solo or with a party of up to four gathers to find secret gathering nodes and fishing holes in existing Dungeons. However, there would be a different monster layout since technically every dungeon we do is the same moment in time, we just repeat it when we jump in again on our Disciples of War/Magic classes. So for the Disciples of the Land, this would be the aftermath of those dungeons we initially completed the quest for. Perhaps we'd have a new quest to unlock these gathering activities after we clear the Dungeon normally on our Disciples of War/Magic. Cool idea, I like it. You got me thinking and excited. I want this lol. :3

[SenorPatty]

I like this. I like this alot. It has merit because it's reusing content but modifying it to make DoL leveling more interesting.

[Maero]

I like the idea, dol need more love.

[Rofel]

I like dungeons and Im sad about how they are handling them. Your idea gimme hope. Would be cool to activate some Nymian machinery to drop some ACME anvils over a mamool ja sentry!

[MuseTraveller]

Love this idea, yes please!
We could also have like someone has to stand on a pad to open a place while the other player(s) go and gathers in said place then they can take turns in who stands in the pad. Maybe one person can stand only X time before they have to switch with someone else.

[TaleraRistain]

I like the idea. I remember in EQII we had missions and instances for tradeskillers and it really brought more depth to that side of the game.

[Alien_Gamer]

I'm not opposed to the idea but it sounds like Diadem getting smushed into dungeon tunnels. It might be interesting the first few times but why would someone want to do it more than once?

Maybe if it dropped significant quantities of tomestone mats from chests? Lv 70 Roulette gives 100 creation...so 10x doman weave or 5x thavnairian cotton or 1-2 HQ of those and the equivalent mats that you can buy with poetics in a "lower level" dungeon. I don't know about others but one thing that annoys me is being forced to run dungeons as a significant source of currency for crafting mats.

Another thing to consider is how to make it a group challenge because gathering is a very solo activity. I like your idea of bait vs rocks for managing mobs, perhaps a kind of keep away to make the mob boss run around in circles until its stamina (HP) runs out. Maybe gathering X amount in a tight timeframe such as mine 100 rocks in 15 seconds, with the right skills and sprint 4 people could do that easily if they're paying attention but also easy to fail if you aren't.

Stealth would also need a counter in the dungeon or it could easily trivialize certain things. Perhaps the only solution there is to make some mobs able to see you in stealth but that feels like a cheap cop out. Maybe environmental hazards like walking through a shallow water area and mobs track your footprints, the more you move the more easily they can find you. The emphasis would be on preplanning where you go instead of blindly rushing through it. Dust storms that outline your character for the mobs to see could work as well....or if you're a touch sadistic a firestorm that lights you on fire...

Hmm...one other thought. How about a mixed party? Any combat class and 3 gatherers? DPS are always complaining about queue times and this might make it more accessible to a wider group of players and thus more worth the development time in SE's eyes. Could that be expanded to 1 DoW, 1 Crafter, 2 gatherers? Consider the moogle quests, there were several quests where you gathered "generic item X" to craft some item to turn in. DoW could distract the mobs while gatherers get the mats and the crafter makes the widget to complete the puzzle or whatnot.

...ohh a crafting dps check...cram as much quality into an item as possible in 30 seconds. If you don't get at least 1000 then you get eaten or something....erm...time to stop thinking about this....

[Shouko]

Stealth mechanics and puzzles just don't fly well with people in this game, if it can't be rushed it will be widely ignored. Look at the first set of MSQ endgame dungeons, if you skip the CS's they're still quite obnoxious and people still just run through them as fast as possible. People lack patience for the most part in this game and everyone wants to rush.

MMO's are meant to be long and grindy, its their purpose.

[Culfinrandir]

This is *exactly* what we asked for in the past. We got Diadem. T_T