About variant dungeons...

[Rolder50]

Except for POTD, that was extremely popular for like 2 straight years (South Shroud was full all day every day). But we know why, and nothing else can really hit that stride again I don't think.

But not necessarily because POTD is good per say, but mainly because it is/was? the best way to level from like 15 to 60.

[Vahlnir]

I ran it a couple of times on normal mode then sort of just gave up on it. Wasn't particularly engaging, and even less rewarding in my opinion. It has potential, but it's up to a coin flip as to whether they will make it worthwhile.

[Kranel_San]

Not exactly the newest thing any more, but I just got around to trying these the past week. My partner and I have had a blast with them, but I didn't hear much about them outside of patch week. Are they popular? Do we think SE considers them a success? Would anyone else like to see more of them? Will we see more of them?

I'd say I prefer the Criterion over the variant due to the former being a great solo experience and challenge.
But due to barely being any rewards for Criterion I stopped doing it after getting all the 12 paths unlocked.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Except for POTD, that was extremely popular for like 2 straight years (South Shroud was full all day every day). But we know why, and nothing else can really hit that stride again I don't think.

Rolder already answered this but wanted to reiterate and add that yeah it was only popular because PoTD was arguably the best way to level jobs from 1-50, which was a big gap compared to say HnH or Bozja which only was good for 10-20 levels. So you saw more activity because that content was efficient for leveling, prolly not necessarily because people wholefully enjoyed it.

My other point is that yeah I suppose the extra rewards you get such as minions, weapon glams and bardings were another thing that kept it going. Although the reality of that was due to the rewards being rng and I dont think many people enjoyed that either

[R041]

Rolder already answered this but wanted to reiterate and add that yeah it was only popular because PoTD was arguably the best way to level jobs from 1-50, which was a big gap compared to say HnH or Bozja which only was good for 10-20 levels. So you saw more activity because that content was efficient for leveling, prolly not necessarily because people wholefully enjoyed it.

My other point is that yeah I suppose the extra rewards you get such as minions, weapon glams and bardings were another thing that kept it going. Although the reality of that was due to the rewards being rng and I dont think many people enjoyed that either

Right - That's why I said it's not really as popular because it's not the best way to level now. But wanted to at least say that it was very popular gimmick content for a long time. People will do things if it's beneficial AND fun. If the gimmick only has 1 of those, then it doesn't survive a week.

[KeshLives]

But not necessarily because POTD is good per say, but mainly because it is/was? the best way to level from like 15 to 60.

For some kinds of people, yes. The thought of leveling in POTD, for me, is a quick yearning to uninstall, and play something, anything else. YMMV, of course. Different people like different things, and having choices is good, for the most part. (Keeping in mind that not all choices are either good or necessary, or good for the game as a whole.)

[SassyAssassin]

I finished everything from the first week because I have no self control, so I liked it but now I have nothing to do there anymore.

[Rolder50]

Right - That's why I said it's not really as popular because it's not the best way to level now. But wanted to at least say that it was very popular gimmick content for a long time. People will do things if it's beneficial AND fun. If the gimmick only has 1 of those, then it doesn't survive a week.

I'm not sure I agree on that either. People will grind things if it's beneficial but not fun, and POTD is a good example of that. Lord knows I have dozens of hours in that place and I was not having fun for the large majority of that time. Was mostly mindless grinding while watching youtube or whatever on the other monitor.

[Vahlnir]

I'm not sure I agree on that either. People will grind things if it's beneficial but not fun, and POTD is a good example of that. Lord knows I have dozens of hours in that place and I was not having fun for the large majority of that time. Was mostly mindless grinding while watching youtube or whatever on the other monitor.

Exactly. I've done many grinds across many games through the years, but I didn't always find them fun. Rewarding? Sure, but most of the time when I was finished all I felt was relief. That's part of the MMO experience though. Sometimes people will put themselves through some pretty terrible things just to get something shiny.

[Iscah]

We just think it's fun, or at least I just think it's fun because the bosses themselves were fun. But again, could've just been added to DD - Or they could've added them to existing dungeons somehow. Or the bosses could've been cool open world engagements. Their direction just confuses me at this point to be honest.

I don't think there's a line to be drawn between "thinking" a thing is fun and it simply being fun. You're not being tricked into enjoying it, even if you only want to do it once and not repeatedly.

The design of the variant dungeons isn't really compatible with deep dungeon design philosophy, which is built around the dungeon layout being fully modular and changing every time you run it. Variant dungeons require you to retread the same distinct path and do something different at specific points.

I'd say I prefer the Criterion over the variant due to the former being a great solo experience and challenge.
But due to barely being any rewards for Criterion I stopped doing it after getting all the 12 paths unlocked.

You seem to have the names back-to-front. Variant dungeons are the exploratory version with multiple paths; Criterion is the boss rush.

I really think it's missing a mid-level difficulty, though. They could do a boss rush that is more on the level of the variant mechanics, and that could maybe even go into the standard dungeon roulette.