My thoughts on proper dungeon structure.

[Jinko]

I don't mind the linear kill mini boss > kill main boss structure, I like having an objective.

There is something to be said about the poorly designed boss mechanics which favour certain classes and cookie cutter strategies, SE have never been good at balancing bosses and content even in FF11 they fell short of other MMO's out there.

People always claim that the only reason WoW is successful is because its easy mode etc, but anyone who has played end game content (especially hard mode stuff) know the fights are very well tuned and require a wide range of classes and can be killed with more than just one strategy.

SE have a lot of work ahead of them to make dungeons more interesting, and for god sakes please get away from the old school grind grind grind with <1% drop rates, nobody except masochists like that any more.

I like the above suggestion about making dungeons randomly generated although im not sure how you can fit a cave that changes shape every time you enter into the lore lol.

I would like to see a lot more puzzles in dungeons where your team has to split up, something like hunt down 2 keystones which have to be slotted into a wall to open a secret passage.

There was that cool mage circle in horutoto ruins which required a BLM,WHM and RDM to open the door something like that could be adapted for a dungeon.

[Soukyuu]

I like the above suggestion about making dungeons randomly generated although im not sure how you can fit a cave that changes shape every time you enter into the lore lol.

Well, I think we will have Garlean/Allag related dungeons in 2.0, but you can have sliding walls even without the machinery. A magical labyrinth re-configuring itself to protect what's hidden inside of it could be fun.

[Elexia]

There is something to be said about the poorly designed boss mechanics which favour certain classes and cookie cutter strategies, SE have never been good at balancing bosses and content even in FF11 they fell short of other MMO's out there..

I've YET to play an MMO with a balanced dungeon or boss, ESPECIALLY from western MMO designers. By the way, Nyzul, Salvage and Einherjar were the most balanced of XI's dungeons and boss encounters.

[Velhart]

I've YET to play an MMO with a balanced dungeon or boss, ESPECIALLY from western MMO designers. By the way, Nyzul, Salvage and Einherjar were the most balanced of XI's dungeons and boss encounters.

There is no such thing as true balance, but bad enough to the point that other jobs are just a inconvenience to have is not good at all.

[viion]

I've YET to play an MMO with a balanced dungeon or boss, ESPECIALLY from western MMO designers. By the way, Nyzul, Salvage and Einherjar were the most balanced of XI's dungeons and boss encounters.

When Gw2 is released, you can play that and be happy that its western and balanced XD

[Duelle]

I don't mind the linear kill mini boss > kill main boss structure, I like having an objective.

There is something to be said about the poorly designed boss mechanics which favour certain classes and cookie cutter strategies, SE have never been good at balancing bosses and content even in FF11 they fell short of other MMO's out there.

People always claim that the only reason WoW is successful is because its easy mode etc, but anyone who has played end game content (especially hard mode stuff) know the fights are very well tuned and require a wide range of classes and can be killed with more than just one strategy.

SE have a lot of work ahead of them to make dungeons more interesting, and for god sakes please get away from the old school grind grind grind with <1% drop rates, nobody except masochists like that any more.

This. Though the thing about set ups in WoW was because the classes were split into their appropriate roles and then were balanced to perform at around the same level. That was a huge plus because you didn't have to worry about class or spec of the people attending the raid so long as your roles were covered. Some of the people in this forum are so stuck on the FFXI mentality of niches and "uniqueness" that it's going to take a lot of work to get them to accept that niche gameplay sucks and on a certain level prevents people from playing what they want.

Regarding dungeons:

I'm of the mind that dungeons should have mini-objectives if they make sense. More than just killing bosses to unlock an area.

Vanilla WoW's Temple of Uldaman had an optional boss that could be accessed after building the WoW equivalent of Raider of the Lost Ark's Staff of Rah (head piece and stick) by killing a boss that dropped the stick and then finding the headpiece somewhere in the dungeon.

Likewise, Dire Maul used to have a caveat in its design, as the reward from the last boss was better with the less bosses you killed. This in effect required you to be sneaky and creative when it came to getting around the dungeon.

Blackrock Depths also was creatively made to ressemble a city, with multiple paths and two very different objectives located on opposite ends of the city.

The first example could definitely work in XIV. Bonus bosses or extra treasure if certain objectives are completed. The last two are more iffy, because just as they were complex and vast, Dire Maul and BRD also required a good hour+ to complete (even more when it came to Dire Maul). I don't think most adults have that kind of time anymore.

I agree with the OP that speedruns are not exactly a good idea at this point in time. Maybe if we hit that point where the jobs and classes are performing equally at their chosen roles it could be reconsidered. A point in time where it's not about what classes/jobs you bring, but how well the players in the group know their roles, know the dungeon and so on.

I'd also like to mention my love for Ulduar's hard mode triggers, which is something the devs should consider when implementing bosses. Stuff like killing XT's heart, kill order for Iron Council or even pushing the Big Red Button (I'm not kidding. Pushing the Big Red Button sets the boss' room on a self-destruct sequence that causes fires and lots of AoE to the raid on top of dealing with the boss and gives you 10 minutes to finish the whole thing or die horribly).