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Dungeon Content: What Interests You?


NSCReaver

  

23 members have voted

  1. 1. What Interests You Most?

    • Challenge
    • Reward
    • Story / Immersion
    • Interesting Design
    • Other - and I'll talk about it below.


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Planning several story-driven dungeons, hoping to improve the design with player feedback, and I realized quite a few things. Disregarding all the technical questions (a moot point until the CK is out), I wasn't sure what a potential audience might want in terms of difficulty, reward, etc. I don't have many other similar threads to go on, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask what your feelings are on player-created dungeons, or for dungeons in general. Here they go, in no particular order.

 


  1.  
  2. Why do you download player-created dungeons? Is it for the challenge of extra content, perhaps the difficulty of a dungeon? Some entertaining reward that demands more than a console command? Or do you enjoy being immersed in a side-story that you've not seen yet?
  3. Linearity - besides the twisting and turning of the main path, would you rather have to fight all the bosses to reach the end, or would you enjoy having some side-bosses need to be explored off the beaten path (not requiring you to defeat them to advance to the end)?
  4. Preliminary Questing - would you rather have some quick set-up quests to introduce you to the story, or would you opt to go straight to the dungeon and investigate?
  5. Veteran Rewards - would you like to collect special items at the end of one mod, and use it to get extra rewards in the next mod (story continuity, plus shinies), or would that be too easy / require too much time?
  6. Story - would you read books to further a story if it didn't require it?
  7. Challenge - which do you find the more enjoyable challenge, boss battles or intricate puzzles?

 

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any replies. Hoping to make these mods entertaining enough that people will enjoy them. Have a particular dungeon in Skyrim I should take a closer look at for reference? Post it below! Have other ideas I might not have covered? I'd like to hear those too.

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1. The reasons why, for me, vary. If you take a mod like The Lost Spires, it's so popular because of the story and the simple feel of the dungeons: like all good ancient horrors it came with its own texture set. The rewards were great, sure, but I didn't download the mod just for those, I got it for the promise of adventure. I think if the story is presented well enough, a player will put up with it even if the reward is nothing too great. And in the case of Skyrim, even something vanilla like a dragonbone helm or Daedric sword could be enough of a reward.

 

 

2. I really don't see any reason NOT to include side-bosses. Considering they don't intrude upon the players who just want to run through, killing what they have to, it provides an extra bonus for those of us who like to explore every nook, cranny, and tunnel that usually has a deathly trap at the end.

 

3. Situational, and depends on what you're going for. In Dungeons of Ivellon, the preliminary questing really help to set up the feel and the reason for the dungeon, so by the time you actually got there, you had enough of an idea of what was coming so as to anticipate it, but still unknowing enough to have the pants scared off of you. Conversely, returning to The Lost Spires, one just simply walked into the Archaeology Guild and that was that.

 

4. I've never seen this before, but I actually really like the idea. Not only does it add in a great feel of continuity, it gives a reason to hold onto that priceless gem. I imagine it'd be like a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter: you're trying to figure out what will happen, and dying of curiosity, but there's just nothing you can do about it. And hey, it practically guarantees downloads on your next release.

 

5. I would. I know a lot of people don't though. Please, though, for the love of Akatosh, spell check if you do write any books to throw in there. /O.C.D.

 

6. Both, to a point. In Oblivion, boss battles were terrible because they were just more hack n' slash until one of you died. The only decent battles I ever came across were modded ones such as in Uberman's dungeons or a couple of the larger mods. If you can make the fight engaging as well as challenging, then there's nothing more satisfying than winning. As far as puzzles go... I, and I think a number of other people, really like the IDEA of puzzles, and will argue vehemently for them. However, in context, more often than not they end up just being frustrating as one runs back and forth for hours trying to find out what was missed. Or maybe I'm just bad at puzzles. Challenging is one thing, but infuriating is something totally different.

 

As far as examples go, one of the best dungeons I've explored so far has been Bleak Falls Barrow, actually. How it starts off as a quick and easy bandit run, then there are all the tunnels and paths down through different environments and whatnot. I really enjoyed it. Also, (very minor spoilers)

 

If you do the Thieves Guild quests, eventually you have to go into the East Empire Warehouse

which was a different and refreshing take on a dungeon. When you take the time to admire just what Bethesda was going for there, it's impressive.

 

Hope all this helps, good luck!

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It's got to be the challenge for me, thats what I enjoy the most out of it. And I dont mean tough enemies, they are pointless (swinging your sword repeatedly for a min or shooting your bow whatever) I mean the length/traps/puzzles, being challenged.

 

Got to admit though I go into dungeons by quests usually not just for the hell of it.

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I'm too weary to respond to all you brought up.

 

I voted for reward though of course I expect a challenge and story is always appreciated.

 

I'll just say this for any maker to ponder.

IMO the default game dungeons I've seen so far in Skyrim after about 35 hours of game play are far

too well lit up.

I've yet to see one that is downright creepy and scary.

I've yet to see one where I felt compelled to have to use a torch or even any mage light skills.

 

A couple times I saw where my companion, Lydia, felt the need to whip out a torch but I suspect her

eyes must not be so good. Though the extra light was welcome, it was not needed that much.

 

So, it would be good to have a good old creepy scary a.s.s dungeon crawl.

 

SOme of you may have been Diablo 1 fans. Remember how Diablo 2 felt so much less 'scary'? Diablo 1

managed to capture the surprise 'what is around that next dark corner ' effect.

It seems game designers have lost that ability.

 

Maybe a creative mod maker can bring back that feeling of potential terror with a properly designed dungeon in this

game.

 

Thanks.

 

p.S. that isn' tto say I've hated all the dungeons and caves I've seen in skyrim so far. I think they are well done really, just lacking

very much in the fear factor.

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1. Getting immersed, I look at descriptions and screenshots and download when I see something that interests me.

2. Couldn't care less about bosses, I generally detest bosses when they don't make sense, having bosses for the sake of having bosses (It's one thing to go into a villain's lair and fight him/her at the end than go to a random cave and fight a huge mudcrab or whatever in the end)

3. It depends, I dislike short quests.

4. idk

5. Yes

6. Puzzles, but not the snake-hawk-whale -stones for heavens sake!

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Would have preferred a multiple choice poll for this.

 

1) Extra content.

 

2) Prefer linear, since I would explore everything anyway, but if I investigate a side lair I don't like worrying that I might have missed something by going the other way. The occasional side room with additional things to find (e.g. books or storyline items) is good to have.

 

3) Have both available. You can stumble across it, but a clue to the existence of the dungeon should be planted somewhere in the world.

 

4) Don't mind. Something cosmetic would be cool e.g. a reskin of armour/weapons. Edit: I actually like the idea that the item can be used for the next mod.

 

5) Yes. I read and/or collect all the books I come across.

 

6) Intricate puzzles.

Edited by CampanaAliquanta
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ahh, call me weird, but i not a fan of dungeons at all.

i find them borring, they all look alike. not to talk about the HUGH space they got.

filled with 100's of creatures? it's just over the top.

a dungeon/special place should have like 10 mobs max, with a boss (other it become so damn borring)

 

Puzzles, i never figured that out, what are they doing in this game or infact in any RPG those day's??

if i wanna play a puzzle, i play one from pop cap.

 

what i really like are house/castle's, towers open world battles.

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1. I enjoy seeing the story--assuming it's a worthwhile story--and seeing what the modder has chosen to do with the design of the dungeon. If the story's interesting enough, I'd tolerate a hallway, but a decent tale with a decently designed dungeon is enough to make me happy.

Linearity - besides the twisting and turning of the main path, would you rather have to fight all the bosses to reach the end, or would you enjoy having some side-bosses need to be explored off the beaten path (not requiring you to defeat them to advance to the end)?

2. To combine this with item 4, it would be interesting to see there be side bosses that open up avenues of investigation for future mods. Like if you go into a tower to beat some mage who's hellbent on summoning the Ultimate Living Flan, and find that one of his underling Puddingmancers has a note from a Pastrymancer in a nearby tower. So you go take down the Pastrymancers in another mod.

3. Whatever works best for what you're trying to do. If it's about some hidden sect out in the mountains, I don't think introductory quests would be all that useful. Any good hidden sect knows how to stay hidden. If it's about going after people who have been abducting farmers, there should be quests leading up to it.

4. See 2

5. I'd read the books--assuming they're well-written.

6. A challenging boss fight is always riveting, but it's rare to find one that's straddling that line between hard and what the everloving christ are you some kind of sadist screw this. A challenging puzzle is a different kind of fun altogether, but I love them.

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To me the best 3 dungeons in the game are all because of environment. There are things that left me laughing maniacally and clapping my hands at how cool they were. The first one was the Dwemer Ruin that was part of the Main Story, its frozen and abandoned and is just a very terrifying experience with the pistons and machine sounds running, you never know where something is. Then Blackreach, all I can say is.. damn.

 

The third one was a Dragon Ruin where you follow a bard's ghost through it, then at the end you run into a full Draugr Council that attacks you after the Bard challenges the king, you fight them off, then the royal guard, and finally the King himself, it was so cool and so overwhelming, I loved it.

 

 

Environment is everything to me, if you make a dungeon that's terrible, that has 2 mobs in it, no loot, whatever, I could enjoy it solely because it was cool. So please, if you make a dungeon, never forget how important it is to craft a well spun environment that provides heavy immersion. It makes the experience so much better.

Edited by Shadowclaimer
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  1.  
  2. Why do you download player-created dungeons? Is it for the challenge of extra content, perhaps the difficulty of a dungeon? Some entertaining reward that demands more than a console command? Or do you enjoy being immersed in a side-story that you've not seen yet?
     
    Mainly for the story and design, really. In Oblivion there were so many generic dungeons in the regular game that i just wanted to go through a dungeon with some amount of thought put into it.
     
  3. Linearity - besides the twisting and turning of the main path, would you rather have to fight all the bosses to reach the end, or would you enjoy having some side-bosses need to be explored off the beaten path (not requiring you to defeat them to advance to the end)?
     
    Dont mind either way. Non-linearity is kind of why we play these games though isnt it?
     
  4. Preliminary Questing - would you rather have some quick set-up quests to introduce you to the story, or would you opt to go straight to the dungeon and investigate?
     
    That's up to the mod-maker. Whatever makes the mod flow better.
     
  5. Veteran Rewards - would you like to collect special items at the end of one mod, and use it to get extra rewards in the next mod (story continuity, plus shinies), or would that be too easy / require too much time?
     
    Depends on what you mean. In Oblivion i played a lot of dungeon mods, and my character was more overpowered than ever by the end of them, simply because these dungeons offered a lot of powerful buffs/items that simply werent avaliable in the regular game. I personally think that one of the best things to offer as a reward is something "trophy"-like, or a spell/item that doesnt affect your power level (a ring that allows you to change the weather for example).
     
  6. Story - would you read books to further a story if it didn't require it?
     
    Yes, but be careful with this. I tend to have a very critical eye when it comes to mods that attempt to delve into or further elder scrolls lore in some way.
     
  7. Challenge - which do you find the more enjoyable challenge, boss battles or intricate puzzles?

 

Puzzles definately. A good puzzle can challenge you in a way that your stats have no effect at all, theres difficult monsters all over the game and i dont think that just adding more of them as the main challenge really makes a mod particularly interesting. Plus Skyrim has a lot of potential for puzzles. *spoiler* Remember the doors in Ustengrav and the secret area at the top that you have to use whirlwind sprint to get to? I think shouts could be an intergral part in making good puzzles.

 

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