Variant & Criterion Dungeons

[Jojoya]

Finished All secrets on Variant mode now, took about 6h in total if you use your head, there was one i had to get a hint for however. After these 6 hours there's nothing left to be done except farm the currency and trade it for items that will cost peanuts in a week or 2. So this will once again be dead content in about 2-3 weeks.

SE has still not learned how to make content that lasts, the idea is good and some of the bosses are fun specially left path. But when you've seen the 15th barrel boss you just groan.
Excellent design and i loved using my head on the puzzles and clearing one path to get a hint for another but now i have 0 reason to go back ... ill wait 3 weeks and buy the glam items for 100k each.

The extreme version looks real fun and since I'm into savage and extreme its good for me, but for the casual player replacing Bozja or eureka with this ... is a massive L in content.

Also if you want the mount it will require a prebuild or solo since you need to do everything once and the chance for that to happen in df is going to be slim, you will redo the same things you already had over and over before a group will actually do a rarer one.

This will defiantly steer conflict in groups. So its both really great and really shite at the same time.

Once again, someone rushes through new content as fast as possible then complains there's nothing to do.

It's going to last me weeks because it's not something I expect to do daily, and certainly not in one sitting. Then it may take me even longer depending on what rewards I decide I want from it.

You are right about the solo aspect but once people run the savage version of these dungeons and get the rewards they want then what incentive is there left for them to run it?

That question applies to any content.

Is someone only doing it for the rewards, or are they doing it because they find it fun?

I repeat content because I have fun doing it. The rewards mean little in the long run because they only have value within the game itself. When I'm not playing the game, having the reward means nothing.

[Skivvy]

Once again, someone rushes through new content as fast as possible then complains there's nothing to do.

It's going to last me weeks because it's not something I expect to do daily, and certainly not in one sitting. Then it may take me even longer depending on what rewards I decide I want from it.

For the normal version/mount achievement, you can clear all paths in about 4 hours and it will net you 36 potsherds. NPC items will set you back a total of 84 potsherds in full. So outside of the initial path-clearing (if you're doing it that way), you're looking at ~5 additional hours to farm sherds for the remaining items. So we're talking about 9 hours of things to do.

Kudos to you if you're able to stretch 9 hours of content out over the course of weeks (or longer), your playstyle is your own choice, but that still doesn't mean that the "rushers" can't have valid complaints about the lack and/or quality of content.

Criterion I assume will go the way of all savage content. People will take some time to get their clears, farm what they like, and then drop it like a sack of potatoes.

[Deveryn]

Kudos to you if you're able to stretch 9 hours of content out over the course of weeks (or longer), your playstyle is your own choice, but that still doesn't mean that the "rushers" can't have valid complaints about the lack and/or quality of content.

Not the least bit sorry about this.... They really can't have valid complaints. Trying to consume anything in mass quantities in as short a time as possible is always going to have drawbacks. Everything is better in moderation. The only people that have an excuse to even rush this are content creators.

[Skivvy]

Not the least bit sorry about this.... They really can't have valid complaints. Trying to consume anything in mass quantities in as short a time as possible is always going to have drawbacks. Everything is better in moderation. The only people that have an excuse to even rush this are content creators.

I'm of the opinion that SE isn't great at creating content that is long-lived as a whole.

But in this particular case, what would you say is an acceptable number of days for people to get what they want out of this? I really only wanted the mount and the emote, both of which I got yesterday in about 4 hours. If I instead only ran this one hour a day and it took me four days total - is that better? Would my opinions suddenly be more valid if I only ran one dungeon run a day and stretched this out to two weeks?

[Deveryn]

Thank you for assuming I just bum rushed through the room and didn't think to look around or examine my surroundings. That's really super special amazing awesome fun.

The shoe fits. It's day 2 and you jumped straight to a guide.

I'm of the opinion that SE isn't great at creating content that is long-lived as a whole.

But in this particular case, what would you say is an acceptable number of days for people to get what they want out of this? I really only wanted the mount and the emote, both of which I got yesterday in about 4 hours. If I instead only ran this one hour a day and it took me four days total - is that better? Would my opinions suddenly be more valid if I only ran one dungeon run a day and stretched this out to two weeks?

I'm saying no one is great at creating content that is long-lived. What some of these people want cannot and will never be done.

What's an acceptable number of days? Acceptable doesn't sound like the right word. Reasonable, maybe? Rather than dwell on that, here's the big picture:

We're talking about this on Wednesday, when it came out and was done yesterday.
It's two months to the next update.
They can only produce so much at any given time and not everyone has the glut of free time other people do. All that is considered in what they release.
Like everything else in life, folks could learn to pace themselves better. They're only creating more stress for themselves (and sometimes others) by rushing. It comes down to it being a personal problem than a SE (or whatever company) problem. It's not for me to decide how to best proceed, only to suggest trying to chill tf out and try to enjoy the content.

[Jojoya]

I'm of the opinion that SE isn't great at creating content that is long-lived as a whole.

But in this particular case, what would you say is an acceptable number of days for people to get what they want out of this? I really only wanted the mount and the emote, both of which I got yesterday in about 4 hours. If I instead only ran this one hour a day and it took me four days total - is that better? Would my opinions suddenly be more valid if I only ran one dungeon run a day and stretched this out to two weeks?

In your opinion, what MMORPG has done a good job of making content that is long lived for every type of player? Could you describe that content for us and let us know why it was long lived for you?

From my personal experience, content here lasts a lot longer than in other MMORPGs in large part because of the tomestone gearing system. Even if I get all the other rewards, the tomestones will continue to give me a reward that will be useful in some way whether it is gear for alt jobs, to buy crafting materials or to get topsoil for my garden.

[Ralphe2449]

Could you describe that content for us and let us know why it was long lived for you?

From my personal experience, content here lasts a lot longer than in other MMORPGs in large part because of the tomestone gearing system. .

You literally just said it, content that gives gear/power rewards. As long as content gives power, people will do said content hence why for long lived content to be important, you need to put power rewards in it.

Criterion could easily be long lived in the same way m+ was in WoW, gear becomes the incentive while also doing content you enjoy.

[Jojoya]

You literally just said it, content that gives gear/power rewards. As long as content gives power, people will do said content hence why for long lived content to be important, you need to put power rewards in it.

Criterion could easily be long lived in the same way m+ was in WoW, gear becomes the incentive while also doing content you enjoy.

Variant rewards tomestones. I received both Causality and Astronomy for the clear, and additional Astronomy for the first time bonus.

I find it difficult to believe that Criterion doesn't likewise reward at least the same amount if not more.

There's your gear rewards. It's not instant gratification but you will get something eventually. It remains to be seen if SE will upgrade the tomestones when the new one comes out in 6.4 but at the very least we should still be getting Causality at that point.

[Cach]

Tried Variant and it was a cool concept with poor execution, I doubt I'll voluntarily keep playing after the 12 paths are done.
Haven't had the chance to try Crit, as I'm trying to organize some friends to do it. The rewards / reward system has deflated the hype that I once had for it, however.

I'm of the opinion that SE isn't great at creating content that is long-lived as a whole.

It's not that they're bad at it, it's becoming more and more clear that they just don't want to. The scheduled content drops are working wonders for them, they have no incentive to go for long lasting systems. As long as they can hook a certain amount of resubs, they seem fine. Whether they care how/if you're spending your time during said sub is something I wonder about with every passing patch.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Not the least bit sorry about this.... They really can't have valid complaints. Trying to consume anything in mass quantities in as short a time as possible is always going to have drawbacks. Everything is better in moderation. The only people that have an excuse to even rush this are content creators.

I cannot agree with this. Me and my chicken nuggies have a fast and loose relationship, and we've never split once! ;3