What's your favorite kind of dungeon? Do you like instances so common in the World of Warcraft where it's just you and a few trusted friends alone against the millions of slavering enemies? Or are you the social type who prefers the EverQuest-style open dungeons where people come as much to chat and show off their latest gear as to kill the minions of darkness? Perhaps a combination -- a dungeon with a open portion that leads to instances as in EverQuest 2's Old Sebilis? Or heck, maybe a weird combination of all of the above. Relmstein takes a look through the history of dungeons in MMOs and how, over the years, the dungeon experience has been extended to take into account the many ways people play their games.
What's your favorite kind of dungeon?
by Brenda Holloway 
on Apr 24th 2008 7:00PM
Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion
4
What's your favorite kind of dungeon? Do you like instances so common in the World of Warcraft where it's just you and a few trusted friends alone against the millions of slavering enemies? Or are you the social type who prefers the EverQuest-style open dungeons where people come as much to chat and show off their latest gear as to kill the minions of darkness? Perhaps a combination -- a dungeon with a open portion that leads to instances as in EverQuest 2's Old Sebilis? Or heck, maybe a weird combination of all of the above. Relmstein takes a look through the history of dungeons in MMOs and how, over the years, the dungeon experience has been extended to take into account the many ways people play their games.
Reader Comments (4)
Posted: Apr 25th 2008 8:09AM Ghen said
The most epic dungeon I went through was Darkness Falls in DAoC. It was a public dungeon, anyone could enter and kill stuff but beyond a certain point you need an ever increasing group size. There were one or two large scale fights that I remember, but mostly it becomes as good as instanced for the 50+ people in your group as you tackle the bigger bosses.
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Posted: Apr 25th 2008 8:48AM (Unverified) said
Blackrock Depths .. best dungeon ever, hands down. So big, so many things to do and places to explore. Today the content is probably all but forgotten by new players leveling up, but back in the day this place was glorious.
One of the things I really liked about the Depths was that it looked like it was a functioning place. When you arrive at the enterance you can see the quarry pit where they carve out the large pieces of rock to form the golems. As you progress farther down you see areas where they are carving out the shapes of the creatures. Further down still you find a magical workshop where they are imbuing metal bodies with life to form iron golems.
Really that whole dungeon hub there was great. Giant chains serve as bridges over lava pits. You can go down to the Depths, head up to the Spire or even go into the Molten Core itself. While the Depths were awesome, the Spire was pretty darn cool too, but the Molten Core was a big, boring disappointment. However that one little nick in the armor doesn't ruin the whole place for me.
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One of the things I really liked about the Depths was that it looked like it was a functioning place. When you arrive at the enterance you can see the quarry pit where they carve out the large pieces of rock to form the golems. As you progress farther down you see areas where they are carving out the shapes of the creatures. Further down still you find a magical workshop where they are imbuing metal bodies with life to form iron golems.
Really that whole dungeon hub there was great. Giant chains serve as bridges over lava pits. You can go down to the Depths, head up to the Spire or even go into the Molten Core itself. While the Depths were awesome, the Spire was pretty darn cool too, but the Molten Core was a big, boring disappointment. However that one little nick in the armor doesn't ruin the whole place for me.
Posted: Apr 25th 2008 12:12PM (Unverified) said
Not to insult your dungeon choice (to each their own) but I hated BRD. A large dungeon just means, to me, that I have to invest a large amount of time to do what I need to do in the dungeon or make multiple trips.
As for dungeons I like it depends on the game. A PvE focused game instance is the way to go to provide a unique experience for the players. But I don't like PvE games so...
I like PvP dungeons that are open and un-instanced. This causes the dungeon to become a PvP asset (if they provide drops or good experience). Guilds or factions can fight for control of the dungeon(s) and deny the enemy players access. It just adds an awesome meta game to the whole PvP setup. Previously this would mean that dungeons involved sitting in a single room or a boring generic room maze dungeon but with the 'invention' of public quests I could see dungeons still becoming an interesting and lively place. Depending on the portion of the public quest the status of the dungeon could change (bonus points if rival factions can compete over the dungeon in conflicting goals) and boss encounters could open up/disappear.
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As for dungeons I like it depends on the game. A PvE focused game instance is the way to go to provide a unique experience for the players. But I don't like PvE games so...
I like PvP dungeons that are open and un-instanced. This causes the dungeon to become a PvP asset (if they provide drops or good experience). Guilds or factions can fight for control of the dungeon(s) and deny the enemy players access. It just adds an awesome meta game to the whole PvP setup. Previously this would mean that dungeons involved sitting in a single room or a boring generic room maze dungeon but with the 'invention' of public quests I could see dungeons still becoming an interesting and lively place. Depending on the portion of the public quest the status of the dungeon could change (bonus points if rival factions can compete over the dungeon in conflicting goals) and boss encounters could open up/disappear.
Posted: Apr 25th 2008 5:23PM (Unverified) said
Darkness Falls was truly a great dungeon. I loved heading there -- you never knew what -- or who -- you'd find. Blackrock Depths, meh... I was a priest in WoW, BRD was just so much pressure. I love dungeon crawls, but the pickup groups I joined would just go insane in BRD, pull all they could, no time for rest, and bitch at me if I prioritized who I was healing. Healing tank and frost mage decides to dart out to AE some groups ahead of us and. MY fault. I didn't like that dungeon much.
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