Rationale:
Some dungeons based on their difficulty or length, take a considerable amount of time longer than other dungeons. Examples:
Citadel of Flame; path 3 is considered more challenging than path 1 or 2.
Arah; path 4 is longer and more challenging than path 3.
This is not a bad thing; variety of challenge is good. However, it can cause some groups or individuals to disregard attempting the more challenging content, either because they don’t feel like taking part in the challenge, or because they simply don’t have time when they log in.
Suggestion:
A reward system for the first completion of an explorable dungeon each day that reflects the time investment of the dungeon. Using the Gold, Silver, and Bronze standard that is used for events, the dungeon loot provided at the end of the dungeon completion is “improved” or has a greater chance at dropping nice things based on the standard that is applied to the dungeon. Each rank (hypothetically) would be as follows:
Bronze
– Recommended for players new to the explorable mode, and quicker dungeons.
– End of dungeon loot remains as it is now.
Silver
– Medium difficulty, a bit more co-ordination required, and medium length.
– A guaranteed rare, 25% more dungeon tokens, and a small chance of an exotic.
Gold
– Committed groups for challenging and long dungeons.
– A guaranteed rare, 50% more dungeon tokens, and a small (but greater than silver) chance of an exotic.
This isn’t based on actual metrics, it’s more of an example of what could be implemented.
Examples of potential assignments:
Citadel of Flame
– Path 1: Bronze
– Path 2: Bronze
– Path 3: Silver
Arah
– Path 1: Gold
– Path 2: Gold
– Path 3: Silver
– Path 4: Gold
These are just examples; they are not set in stone and may not reflect the actual assignments people would expect or want to apply.
Potential benefits:
- Makes the rewards from dungeons more meaningful based on the content and challenge completed.
– Encourages groups to take on more challenging content.
– Provides players new to dungeons with information about the dungeon ahead, and which path may best suit their experience.
Potential drawbacks:
- More rares / Globs of Ectoplasm introduced to the game. (Mitigated by being tied to first completion of the day).
– May actually put some players off attempting more challenging content if it is spelled out for them that it is going to take longer.
– Some players may not agree with the assignments of some standards over others.
– May encourage players to develop “speed-runs” of more challenging content just to get the increased rewards, or only invite certain professions to make sure the run goes faster.
Personal Experience:
I ran Arah path 4 before the changes to Simin, and while our group managed to complete it, it took several hours of blood, sweat and tears. It was the most satisfying dungeon run we had ever completed, and we loved the challenge of it, and more importantly – overcoming it. It was just a shame that when we opened that last chest after all that time, the most any of us got were Greens. It didn’t dampen the celebration at completing the content, it just would have been nice to be rewarded in relation to how hard we worked.
Thanks for reading. Feedback welcome.