Idea: Allowing Spectators in Dungeons

[Exn]

Love this idea. Gets my vote!

As long as you limit the control of the spectator, shouldn't have any major issues (that couldn't be resolved). I remember back when I used to play half-life lonnnnng time ago using spectator mode all the time whenever I stopped playing to eat or do some homework. It was way better than cable tv!!

[Orophin]

This seems neat in theory, it'd just be a question of whether it can feasibly be done or not. Are there any other MMOs on the market that have this feature outside of special events? This could be considered a "next-gen" feature for a MMO if so, which might make it a selling point for some people. I'm not expecting it to be in at launch or anything, but if it doesn't have a high development cost, sometime down the road would be cool.

[Pwnagraphic]

I like that idea.. You could also sit back and watch just for enjoyment or to learn the dungeon so you won't be a total noob to those who know it inside and out :P

[strallaalaa]

i like this, if you hit ok to let people watch and it's like a live youtube. or you enter in with them and you are invisible to them but see and here chat or something. nice teaching tools for linkshells that want to farm together maybe.

[carlosx]

i think is a nice idea but must be refined...

#1 cant be able to switch from a PT member at anyTime...
this is already cheating: cos people can just leech all the instances and just join for drops...

Espectator must only be able to watch nothing else...

[Pseudopsia]

i think is a nice idea but must be refined...

#1 cant be able to switch from a PT member at anyTime...
this is already cheating: cos people can just leech all the instances and just join for drops...

Espectator must only be able to watch nothing else...

I'll add a note where I talk about swapping players in an instance: (May not be included if SE thinks this to be cheating)

However, I'm going to mention the flaws I find with FFXIV 1.0 dungeons that are designed to reduce leeching.

As is, leeching cannot be prevented with any feature in a MMORPG. You see linkshells selling non trade-able gear. How they do it is allow the buyer to be part of the party, run the dungeon and the buyer gets the drops.

The only thing that can be done to reduce leeching is to make it inconvenient. Such as not allowing anyone else to join the party once dungeon has started. The problem with this is it affects regular players as well. #1 if someone disconnects you have to start dungeon over, #2 if someone has to leave you have to start dungeon over, and #3 because of #1 and #2 dungeons have to be designed to be short in length; also cannot have raid parties of 24 people since this increases the change someone will disconnect or need to leave. Problem with short dungeons is you end up grinding them and they become boring quickly because of the grind. This is what we had in FFXIV 1.0.

Personally since I know leeching cannot be prevented I rather just limit the drops to the party members. This is why I stated you cannot switch spectator with party member when in combat. If SE designed boss drops so when it is defeated only party members can roll on drops then a spectator just watching from the sideline cannot get the drop.

If we just limit drops to party members different dungeon designs are allowed. We can allow player replacement and able to continue dungeons where we left off. Dungeons can be long in length since you can replace members that disconnect or need to leave. We can have raid dungeons of 24 players.

If Yoshi wants to add large scale dungeons in ARR the design will have to change. FFXIV 1.0 design where you cannot replace members is not going to work.

[TrystWildkey]

Crap on toast! Not only is this a really cool, interesting and novel idea, but this thread has managed to remain civil for 4 pages

And not only has this thread remained civil, but people have actually offered helpful suggestions and constructive feedback. Have I somehow accidentally found myself in Bizarro World?

[Pseudopsia]

Don't jinx it!

* Fingers Crossed *

[Rau]

It's probably easier on both parties (viewer and broadcaster) to use Twitch.tv rather than an ingame client to view streams.

[Pseudopsia]

What's better with with having the spectator mode is you're not watching a stream. You have the ability to dynamically focus on any part of the battle as it happens. Plus the quality as as best as your computer can handle. With streams the video is encoded at a low quality to allow transfer of the video over the internet.

With spectator mode it's like you're at event with the best seats rather than watching it on TV.