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[Column] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Dungeons in Final Fantasy XIV

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

One of the most popular of any MMO's features is the dungeon system. In our latest Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn column, we take a look at a dungeon run through the eyes of a beta tester. Check it out before leaving your thoughts in the comments.

Tam Tara Deepcroft is the first dungeon available to beta players.  It is located in the central shroud, just south of Bentbranch Meadows.  The dungeon is designed for a “light party” of four players (full parties are eight players) and is tuned for players in the 15-19 level range.  At least for the present, entry into dungeons requires at least one player to run out to the dungeon entrance to talk to a gatekeeper NPC.  The remainder of the party need only be in the same zone as the instance.

Read more of Ryahl Smith's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - Dungeons in Final Fantasy XIV.

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Comments

  • Agrias34Agrias34 Member UncommonPosts: 147

    Nice review.  Everything sounds pretty well thought out and redone now and I'm actually looking forward to playing, but like you've said in the review, that does have me concerned as well, the timers on the dungeons.  Already in most MMOs dungeons, people just zoom through them without wanting to go and explore or get any side content, and that is what this timer is going to do, so why even put extra loot and chests on the side? 

     

    If they really want people to explore or get side loot, the timer needs to go, it will only cause more hassle than it would fun.

  • ZizouXZizouX Member Posts: 670
    YoshiP has already said that they are going to get rid of the timers.. I just can't find the post.
  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    That is awesome to hear. I don't like the idea of timers either, but like that they present some challenge.

    Perhaps they can find a way to reward efficiency?

    Like the Tank gets extra reward for reducing the amount of damage the rest of the party takes in the run, the healer gets extra reward for not having any players die and have to be resurrected, and the DPS gets extra reward for... perhaps things like interrupts, CC, and not pulling aggro?

    Can't reward DPS for damage contribution or speed etc. encourages bad DPS behavior.

    Can this game release already? I'm sure it's fine Yoshi... I'd pay to beta at this point.

  • MaquiameMaquiame Member UncommonPosts: 1,073

    *Claps* First its nice to see a FFXIV article on here, especially since its so close to launch. It would be nice to see the letter from the producer videos referenced when the subbed versions drop as they have a lot to reveal the last one focused on housing and even showed the Limsa Lominisa housing section which was absolutely gorgeous, why are features not being done on these?They are the best outreach of a developer to its audience and really show the dedication of Yoshi P and his team and the product they want to provide. Not to mention Yoshi OFTEN takes good ideas mentioned to him from the audience and considers them and writes them down. This includes the foreign audience.

     

    Is there any reason why these are not featured in official MMORPG articles? Yes I am asking. If this was GW2 you guys would be all over them.  No developer has ever done anything on such a level with their mmos.

    Second I personally like the dungeon timers and hope they keep them, at least for hardmode versions of the dungeons. In a game that requires old school skill in its turn based fighting I feel that the timers add challenge.

     

     

    But then again I'm an old school mmo guy who is used to running dungeons with established groups of friends and not using dungeon finders so the thought of the possibility of failure is awesome to me. I hope Yoshi does not take them out or at least makes them optional. FF mmos always have had a higher degree of challenge to them than most mmos and I hope that does not change.

    Also for the challenge of getting the loot but finishing at a good time is an old school gamer mentality of competition. If Yoshi were smart they would have dungeon speed rankings which also included how much loot was gathered. IE: the more side loot you gather while keeping a good dungeon time would result in special completion items.

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    Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!

  • MothanosMothanos Member UncommonPosts: 1,910

    It sounds epic ^^ 10/10 for this piece of writing :)

    Only thing that shocked me and was a BIG letdown was the timers, but i see Zizoux is 100% sure they are going to get rid of that !!!  o/

    My interest in FF is growing with each piece of info i read, i just hope it wont be that other mmo dumped into the other piles of crap i bought  past 7 years :P

     

    If SE messes this up then i lost all faith in mmo's (except CCP) !!!

     
  • EtherignisEtherignis Member UncommonPosts: 249
    I hope u get another update interview with Yoshi before game launch.
  • k11keeperk11keeper Member UncommonPosts: 1,048

    [mod edit]

    But I like the review, and I'm looking forward to this game again. I don't have my hopes up like I did a few years ago but once again I have my eye on it.

  • McGamerMcGamer Member UncommonPosts: 1,073
    I like the sound of those dungeon mechanics in the review. It reminds me of Zelda type dungeons which are fun imo to say the least.
  • PulsarManPulsarMan Member Posts: 289
    The excitement. It flows through me like last nights chili. But...in a good, not burning, kind of way. 
  • Darkfalz89Darkfalz89 Member UncommonPosts: 581
    Hope they don't go with the timer system, it's what effectively ruined FFXI and made it a gear check and " you need to be x class if you want in". I'm sure that in ARR the DD classes damage will be better balanced but timers never really brought anything good to mmos. Every mmo is about persistence and never giving up, throwing a timer on it results in boring zergfest tactics and class favoritism.
  • VikingGamerVikingGamer Member UncommonPosts: 1,350
    fullly player driven economy and the ability to level all classes on one toon. These are the things that excite me the most I really hope everything else that limited V.1 got fixed. So far everything looks very promising.

    All die, so die well.

  • RyahlRyahl Member Posts: 47
    Also for the challenge of getting the loot but finishing at a good time is an old school gamer mentality of competition. If Yoshi were smart they would have dungeon speed rankings which also included how much loot was gathered. IE: the more side loot you gather while keeping a good dungeon time would result in special completion items.

    First, I'm glad to hear everyone liked this article, I am arranging the second dungeon review.

    As to the challenge rankings, I would love to see an MMO do something along these lines.  There are a number of ways rankings can be done without resorting to *just* speed (although speed is certainly one metric).  Damage mitigated, effects countered, timer as a function of zone completion (e.g. 100% clears with timers, not speed rushes).

    Scoreboards can be a fun meta-game for those who run efficient groups.  I completely agree that there is a whole array of competitive dungeoneering that developers routinely leave on the table.  

     

    Ryahl - writer of eye-bleeders
    FFXIV Fansite | TSWGuides
    Follow me on Twitter

  • nbtscannbtscan Member UncommonPosts: 862

    Pretty sure it was said at some point that dungeon timers would go away.  A big reason they were implemented in 1.0 is because the servers couldn't have so many people in them at once. They designed the dungeons to be cleared in under an hour and further encouraged this by making the "speed run" chests in which people would typically clear a dungeon in 20-30 minutes, thus opening up spots for people to participate in the dungeon.

     

    As far as the topic of being rewarded for playing well, that will be somewhat implemented.  While I don't know the specifics behind it until I can get my hands on it in Phase 3, Yoshi-P has talked about a "fine play" mechanic that contributes to your Limit Break bar building up faster.  We don't really know the specifics behind it yet, but skillful play is supposed to be rewarded in this way.  We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out in Phase 3.

     

    I really like what I've seen of the UI in ARR.  There's target of target features, the targeting arrows as you mentioned and also a totally separate UI element that shows every monster you currently have threat on, what percentage of threat, and a unique letter identifier so you can tell them apart and call out instructions on them if need be.  There's also the party list which indicates your threat level relative to everyone else in your party.

     

    This was a really good objective review of how dungeons work.  I'm glad you can look at it from a neutral perspective, as I've seen some comments on it from people who have been playing MMOs for a long time and thinking the content is too easy.  It just seems unrealistic that a level 15 dungeon should completely kick the shit out of people.  New players have to be eased into grouping mechanics somehow, and I think a low level dungeon is a good way to go about it.

     
     
  • MothanosMothanos Member UncommonPosts: 1,910

    Aye speed runs it should be optional not mandatory.
    It would be neat to show it in ranking boards, but it should not grant extra loot...
    What you will get is that the community will create class restrictions where type x z y is prefered and a b c are not welcome.

    Its dangerous as in the end only those classes will be leveld wich creates another problem wich is 600000 class y 600000 class z all waiting for a tank / healer :P

    When does the damn NDA ends :P ? any word on that ? !!!!!!

  • mystang89mystang89 Member Posts: 2
    NDA should end with the beginning of Phase 3 from my understanding.  And I believe that people with speed run it anyway, with or without the time limit.  Most likely I will still hear 15 xyz lf TTD MUST BE EXPERIENCED and have such and such a role.  Seems to be more and more popular.
  • ButterNuttzzButterNuttzz Member Posts: 18
    I agree that speed runs should be optional and completing it gives u extra reward butndont make it mandatory cause then like u are goin to rush the dungeon and not get to explore and enjoy what a final fantasy game is and part of that is to explore and enjoy what yoshi P and the rest hs put into this game. Its art to this man and i expect nothing but the best mmo out when it hits the shelves. thank you ryhal for your article looking forward to hear more about the other dungeon.
  • Cochran1Cochran1 Member Posts: 456

    Good read, I can't wait for the next beta phase. The game seems to be shaping up nicely over the dark cloud of 1.0.

    ....oh yeah, tanks FTW!!!!

  • ElRenmazuoElRenmazuo Member RarePosts: 5,361
    ok please dont put rankings and scoreboards and stuff like that for dungeons in the game cuz that kind of stuff is totally immersion killer for a fantasy rpg.
  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    Did I read right that there will be a down ranking system?

    Hopefully they add some incentive for higher-level players down ranking to help out lowbies do runs like this.

    Nothing major, maybe something like increased gil ($) for the high level toon helping guildies/friends/randoms through the lowbie dungeon.

  • k11keeperk11keeper Member UncommonPosts: 1,048

    I understand why some would be against timed runs but a lot of content in ffxi was timed and if it wasn't it wouldn't have worked well at all and this could be the case in FFXIV as well. Sure it causes a lot of min/maxing but that's gonna happen anyway. Think how different BCNMs, limbus, dynamis, nyzul isle, and salvage etc would be if they were not timed. It forces you to pick the correct path setup and execute your strategy without fail and not just spend hours killing every little thing in the zone. I hope that if you're gonna get rid of timers that you can't raise players or some other severe death penalty otherwise it would make things too easy and just be about who has the most time and not who has the best strategy.

    I love the idea that trash mobs aren't so trashy either and take a bit of skill to beat. That will be refreshing for a change. Anymore these days trash mobs are dispatched in a just a few seconds with almost no teamwork, glad to hear that is not going to be the case.

  • NaughtyPNaughtyP Member UncommonPosts: 793

    I am going to probably get flamed for this, but I take issue with games that still design their content delivery this way:

    "While the outdoor game is, at least in beta, a very soloable experience, the dungeons require teammates working together."

    There is something fundamentally wrong with designing a multiplayer game that is predominantly solo content and only promotes working together when you want to do a dungeon. This kind of content delivery is what I expect from a 2001 game, not a 2013 game.

    Sorry. I get that a lot of people still want this, but to me it's... uninspired.

    Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.

  • WaidenWaiden Member UncommonPosts: 500
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Did I read right that there will be a down ranking system?

    Hopefully they add some incentive for higher-level players down ranking to help out lowbies do runs like this.

    Nothing major, maybe something like increased gil ($) for the high level toon helping guildies/friends/randoms through the lowbie dungeon.

    I dont want any down ranking/leveling system .. what gw 2 did was pretty big crap. Challange for high lvl players are high lvl dungs/raids ... Its so retarded that game just downlevel me when I go to different zone.

    no thanks

  • RyahlRyahl Member Posts: 47
    Originally posted by NaughtyP

    I am going to probably get flamed for this, but I take issue with games that still design their content delivery this way:

    "While the outdoor game is, at least in beta, a very soloable experience, the dungeons require teammates working together."

    There is something fundamentally wrong with designing a multiplayer game that is predominantly solo content and only promotes working together when you want to do a dungeon. This kind of content delivery is what I expect from a 2001 game, not a 2013 game.

    Sorry. I get that a lot of people still want this, but to me it's... uninspired.

    I'm on the record (over at Eorzea) as agreeing with your sentiment.  I'd rather not see a soloable outdoor world with the dangerous stuff tucked into corners.

    I'd rather see a dangerous outdoor world with plenty of soloable stuff tucked into corners (city missions, etc.).

    But, I think your timeline is backwards.  A group oriented outdoor world is circa 2001... a soloable world is everything post 2008.

    Ryahl - writer of eye-bleeders
    FFXIV Fansite | TSWGuides
    Follow me on Twitter

  • stevebombsquadstevebombsquad Member UncommonPosts: 884
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Did I read right that there will be a down ranking system?

    Hopefully they add some incentive for higher-level players down ranking to help out lowbies do runs like this.

    Nothing major, maybe something like increased gil ($) for the high level toon helping guildies/friends/randoms through the lowbie dungeon.

    I don't mind as long as the down leveling is optional. That gives people the choice if they want to or not. Hopefully they don't implement the GW2 crap system where it is mandatory. 

    James T. Kirk: All she's got isn't good enough! What else ya got?

  • nomad440nomad440 Member Posts: 2

    Hi All,

    Interesting read in all the above comments! Being "in" the whole beta experience (no, don't ask, ^-^), I can see the excitement brewing!

    to NaughtyP, I Agree with the point you make about 'Solo", but, also bear in mind that the FF "purists" that have stayed away from previous Final Fantasy MMO's, now also have an option. Having said that, in your defense (in the hopes of halting a flame war NOW), therein lie your choices.

    In addition, I'll ask you 1 question: What usually happens during the first 30 -240 min in a regular FF game? Answer that, and you'll have your "Solo" question answered, and your mind put at ease ^-^

    to BadSpock, I suggest tuning into the public notes that have been translated from interviews concerning your "topic".

    There was a question concerning asking for detail on these things from the readers of the article, Maquiame  raised it,  mystang89 has the answer in his question:

    The NDA release is concerning Character Creation and Gridania ONLY, I am happy to comment that Ryahl has done a very concise job of doing just that.:-)

     
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