So Variant Dungeons,what we want for them?

[magitekLuna]

So it sounds that this be what people (me being 1 of them) was asking for years dungeons to be. Now 2 problems remaining that they did not talked about.
1.how big it\\'s is. It\\'s the size 9f normal dungeons or just small rooms like in maps.
2.what we get from it? This will make or break this content.
So what you think of this?

[Evergrey]

I don't think anything about it.
I'm gonna wait until they reveal information on how it's going to be, or when it's released. Depending on what comes first.
Thinking too much about it will most likely just build up expectations/hopes on how one wants it to be and then the chances are one will get disappointed when it turns out it isn't so.
So not thinking about it I will be a "blank page", open to whatever it may turn out to be.

[Cleretic]

They seem to want to do some low-key worldbuilding with this, which I love, and Sil'dih is a fantastic first choice for that. There being two other variant dungeons in the wings for 6.x suggests to me that they're focusing on the pasts of the three core city-states, which is even better.; we're likely going to be seeing Gelmorra and probably either pre-Limsa La Noscea or early Limsa.

To me the only disappointing part is that it seems to be branching but not randomized. That, I don't think, is gonna work out how they want it to; that sounds like we're gonna see all but the 'most efficient' path get completely abandoned about three days after the content's launched.

[Saraide]

They seem to want to do some low-key worldbuilding with this, which I love, and Sil'dih is a fantastic first choice for that. There being two other variant dungeons in the wings for 6.x suggests to me that they're focusing on the pasts of the three core city-states, which is even better.; we're likely going to be seeing Gelmorra and probably either pre-Limsa La Noscea or early Limsa.

To me the only disappointing part is that it seems to be branching but not randomized. That, I don't think, is gonna work out how they want it to; that sounds like we're gonna see all but the 'most efficient' path get completely abandoned about three days after the content's launched.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but the way I understood it, branching paths only exist for the story version that you can solo. Higher difficulties only feature a single patch.

[Shurrikhan]

To me the only disappointing part is that it seems to be branching but not randomized. That, I don't think, is gonna work out how they want it to; that sounds like we're gonna see all but the 'most efficient' path get completely abandoned about three days after the content's launched.

This was my key concern as well.

The path being "based on player actions," moreover, could be rather irritating, depending on its form. "Oh, someone accidentally baited the charging boss into the pillar? Guess we're stuck taking the pillar-as-bridge to that next area now; the normal on-win path is now locked out." Even if you were to end up with both paths in such cases, it could easily narrow quickly into a "best route" that quickly changes would-be variance into just another initial hurdle.

__________________

Main hope: I want mechanics from which difficulty isn't so short-lived as those we can just learn our way around the once and can basically automate thereafter. Something for which the execution itself is difficult to perfect, but doesn't quite require (i.e., isn't balanced around) perfection, either.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but the way I understood it, branching paths only exist for the story version that you can solo. Higher difficulties only feature a single patch.

That's correct. I think the main concern there is stuff like any Relic grind tie-ins, which are certainly going to force more optimization than basically-only-intrinsic-rewards side-content. Virtually no difficulty plus further conflict-inducing knowledge gaps would just make Variant Dungeons a more... contentious form of regular dungeons, at that point. Well, hopefully they won't thus be linked, at least in the form we're guessing Variant Dungeons will take.

[Driavna]

The whole thing sounds like SW:TOR Flashpoints and could be a fun thing to solo or do with friends but not randoms.

[magitekLuna]

I don't think anything about it.
I'm gonna wait until they reveal information on how it's going to be, or when it's released. Depending on what comes first.
Thinking too much about it will most likely just build up expectations/hopes on how one wants it to be and then the chances are one will get disappointed when it turns out it isn't so.
So not thinking about it I will be a "blank page", open to whatever it may turn out to be.

We know when it be and how it work. It be in 6.2.5

[Jennah]

Um ... frankly, just for the first handful of runs to be fun, and for it to award the uncapped tomestones at the same rate as EX Roulette afterwards.

Zero interest in the Savage version - health isn't good enough for a static, and if it even half-deserves the label of Savage, I have no desire to PF it.
The middle of the three, possibly, if it winds up easy enough that it doesn't essentially have to be completed through a Party Finder.

So basically, I imagine it's going to be, at best, another option than running EX Roulette. Which'll only have 2 dungeons in it for the rest of the expansion, if they do it like ShB.

[Tsukino]

I want it to be something that is worth doing over a long period of time. Either because of inherent fun or useful/neat rewards, ideally both.

I play the game primarily with a set group of four people, and the content that has kept our interest the most has been Deep Dungeon, Eureka, and Bozja. Without a field operation this time, we're really looking forward to variant dungeons and the new Deep Dungeon to be something we actually want to do every week for months at a time. As much as I enjoy the Hildibrand side quests, I suspect "quest progression" for the new relics means endless FATE grinding and light farming bullshit again, so my hope for things to do long-term is with this.

[Gemina]

So it sounds that this be what people (me being 1 of them) was asking for years dungeons to be. Now 2 problems remaining that they did not talked about.
1.how big it\\'s is. It\\'s the size 9f normal dungeons or just small rooms like in maps.
2.what we get from it? This will make or break this content.
So what you think of this?

Expressing concern is fine. Issue with threads like these is people confuse expressing concern with critiquing the content before even getting their hands dirty with it. This isn't something like job actions where players can make educated guesses with near pinpoint accuracy with how new skills and changes will play out in PvE content. They can do that because they've been grinding savage content for months. This is entirely new content.

If you're not aware of the difference, as an example, a player who is curious if Island Sanctuary will have gardening capability is expressing a genuine concern. A player who says that the gardening capability will make or break the content is critiquing it before they've even played it. I hope that makes sense.

There are even players already calling the more difficult versions of this "Savage". This will only result in the players lashing out about the dev's dismissal of their expectation disguised as a concern. Right now, this content should be seen as nothing more than the dev's first attempt to provide a new kind of dungeon based on player feedback of providing a different dungeon experience to the community.

You're #2 concern is an actual concern, and a good one. But they have already mentioned incentives to keep players interested in the content. A concern I have is will players still want to run it after they have viewed all the cutscenes? A concern I have is will this content be required for future relic steps?