Thread: Almost into 7.3, what you think about the *improved* encounter design?

Or more likely, one of the main selling points of Dawntrail.

They sold the idea that 7.0 was meant to focus their work on improving their encounters, so and so that they relegated any major job work into 8.0, either because they only could do one at a time, or because they thought both somehow would overwhelm people. I don't really remember which.

Initially at 7.0, I was pleased with the fights, but not exactly impressed. Then it happens that I got it all wrong, they didn't mean to ship Dawntrail with the improvement premise, but only in 7.2. So, the patch is now almost done with. What do you think about everything?

My personal perception is that I like it for what it is... But I don't like it for what I thought it would be. If that makes sense? Through the DT Keynotes, I really got the impression that they would finally step out of their boxes and offer a wildly different experience, even if experimental.

What we got, instead is basically a continuation of the 'DDR design' but really well executed - together with a few rare elements here and there, such as real adds to a fight.

In the end, I ask myself: did we really need to skip the focus on job improvement for this? On a sidenote, given the recent 'costs' fiasco (or mistranslation? Idk) it could actually explain it, because it makes no sense to me that you'll redesign fights without jobs at the same time, as one thing should depend on the other.

Maintaining (2xtrash + boss)x3 while speeding up the DDR isn't an improvement. High-skilled players still find it boring, whereas those at the other end of the skill spectrum find it both boring and too difficult.

Originally Posted by YovelaLindswood

You can’t improve encounter design on the back of awful class design!

100% agree. They need more meaningful toolkits and to bring in fresh ideas like actually using duty actions. If blizzard can make an engaging class with a core of 8 buttons and some flavor rp abilities why do I have 36 buttons that are all a variation of eachother in this game? Bring back more procs and rng in rotations. If the fights are going to be boring at least let me enjoy reacting to my class.

That's exactly why I think it doesn't make any sense to not work both encounters and classes together. One is the answer to the other...

So what it is? There's more substance to the encounter design that we'll only find out in 8.0 when jobs get changed?

Originally Posted by Saraide

Yup. Frustratingly this was obvious when they first announced it and despite everyone telling them that they still went with it anyway. The job design railroads them into this body check design because otherwise we can just mit and shield through everything.

SCH breaking the game since 2.0

I've been enjoying the CEs, Extreme and Savage. The hunts are extremely good. The dungeons have been good too but like usual, if you repeat the same dungeon for 8 months to cap tomestones as intended, it makes you physically sick.