No exploratory content

[ElysiumDragon]

I enjoyed Eureka, but... it would almost certainly have had greater community engagement and had been more enjoyable to the average player if the EXP requirements for leveling up were lower, leaving that grind instead to the horizontal progression of Relics instead of something that'd more inflexibly split apart its players across a given zone.



They're not each being called out because they've only collectively --not individually-- had the kind of impact or reward-access that Exploratory Missions have had and because we're literally in a thread about Exploratory Missions.

In a thread about Exploratory Missions, you can expect Exploratory Missions to get a larger share of the discourse even if other content forms were just as good/bad/neutral in regard to a given criteria.

Moreover, a critique doesn't stop being valid just because it doesn't include every other item that might also meet its description.



That would imply that the only (respectable) enjoyment one can get out of MMOs to large-zone mob- and FATE grinds...

I like both, in the right contexts, but liking other parts of the MMO experience more than that aspect in particular doesn't mean that one doesn't like/love MMOs, let alone that they hate them.

__________

Again, I like Exploratory Missions. I certainly think they're a more fitting, efficient, and lucrative content form than the likes of Variant/Criterion Dungeons, and would rather have EMs than any other form of "Side-content". I'm going through Bozja again right now on this forum alt. But that content doesn't get better over successive iterations from refusing to parse criticisms of it.



What seems about the sweet spot to you, in terms of vertical grind progression for an EM? How might Bozja have been encouraged long-term play? And are there other sorts of novel mechanics or intrinsic motivators that you'd like to see in a new Exploratory Mission in Dawntrail, if we get one?

So I think Eureka nailed it with regards to long-term play, with noticeable gil rewards (everyone loves gil) tied to bunny chests and the like, as well as having super rare and valuable items that maintain their value to this day, and the Eureka armor sets encouraging repeat visits.

As for Bozja, I'd argue it was about the right amount of grindy for the relic questline, with several ways to make the grind a lot easier if you knew what to do. That, and I feel Bozja overall handled instanced content better despite accessibility issues, with several different pieces of content compared to Eureka only having BA.

My ideal relic zone would have Eureka's aesthetic, bunny fates, community, and alternative reward incentives, with Bozja's progression grind, ability to level jobs inside the instance, and instances (though the instances should ideally be either soloable or not gatekeep relic progression, and be far easier to spawn).