The game needs to open up

[AllenThyl]

This game needs to work on producing:
1. Shock
2. Awe and wonder
3. Curiosity
4. A feeling of freedom

It would be great for the game for once to release content that doesn't feel like the same junk reskinned, for the 100th time.

Nothing in this list is prevented categorically by the current design. The fact that the story was just bad, was because the writing and its execution was simply bad. The same is true for overworld content. Nothing about FATEs or unlock status prevented the dev team from implementing more interesting side quests, or a new treasure hunt system (not the already existing treasure maps). Even the dungeon design is no reason why the encounters within the dungeons have to be the way they are. For example, the last mob group inside the lvl 99 dungeon is just one big HP sponge, with nothing interesting going on. They could have done something like I think it Arboretum hard, where you can wash the mud off of mobs, making them vulnerable and weak. I.e. "pull the mob here to zap them which makes their armor fall of", or into landmines, or somesuch. The structure would be the same, but the experience would be different.

[Ath192]

Nothing in this list is prevented categorically by the current design. The fact that the story was just bad, was because the writing and its execution was simply bad. The same is true for overworld content. Nothing about FATEs or unlock status prevented the dev team from implementing more interesting side quests, or a new treasure hunt system (not the already existing treasure maps). Even the dungeon design is no reason why the encounters within the dungeons have to be the way they are. For example, the last mob group inside the lvl 99 dungeon is just one big HP sponge, with nothing interesting going on. They could have done something like I think it Arboretum hard, where you can wash the mud off of mobs, making them vulnerable and weak. I.e. "pull the mob here to zap them which makes their armor fall of", or into landmines, or somesuch. The structure would be the same, but the experience would be different.

Realistically the structure has to change. I appreciate a lot of the input here but you used a past example to offer a solution and that is the issue. They can’t keep rehashing the same stuff over and over again.

Even if the writing was good, DT would be nothing special. I feel the on rails structure of the game needs to change. I really would appreciate something outside the box. Some experimentation.