Suggestion: Player Made Dungeons

Kragwulf

Here me out. I know there's going to be some push back on this because it would pretty much take the amount of work & time a whole X-Pack takes, but I feel like it would add a huge amount of replayability to the game and give it something that no other modern MMO has. (Which means $$$)

With ESO's player housing system, you're able to place objects & creatures in such a precise way that you can actually give your NPCs actual pathing that you then edit down to even the time at which they stay at each node. This got me thinking that a dungeon creation system could also use this exact same system that already exists in the game. Below you can find a very rough outline of what a system like this would look like.



1. Pick your theme

Your base race would give you that racial dungeon theme to work with. If you're an Argonian, you can work with something that looks ripped straight out of Murkmire, if you're a Nord you get a Draugr crypt/tomb, etc. This means that the base racial dungeon styles would use assets that already exist in-game and would only need to be repurposed for the new system. More dungeon styles could be unlocked in the same way we have crafting motifs.

2. Map your dungeon

After you have your theme selected, you build the dungeon itself. Each dungeon would start with a room designated as "Entrance" and you would build "Pathways" that connect to "Rooms" branching from it. "Pathways" would basically be your hallways and tunnels that connect each main "Room" of your dungeon.

Think of it looking a bit like creating your own DOOM map. Which, fun fact, Zenimax has already had some experience with thanks to DOOM 2016's Snapmap system.

3. Place objects/enemies

This is where the existing player housing system takes over. The only difference is that instead of placing furniture and house guests/pets that you own, you're placing objects from your dungeon's theme and using up a points (I'm picturing something extremely similar to Halo's Forge system.)

You would add pathing for the enemies, lay traps, and even place special "Enchantments" in each room that would alter combat in some way while fighting enemies there. Maybe one room has a "No blocking" rule that causes the player to take a small amount of damage each time they block an attack. Maybe another room as a "No healing" enchantment.

This would also allow for player created "Stealth dungeons" where each room has a "Don't be detected" enchantment.

4. "Upload" your dungeon

You know that custom game browser everyone wants in the Master Chief Collection? Add it to ESO and allow for a ratings system so the top-rated dungeons are easy to find and play. I don't even think a reward system would need to be tied to it. Having created a dungeon that thousands of players have played through would be an achievement alone.



What do you think? Would it be worth it? Would you enjoy making your own dungeon? Would you enjoy playing other player created dungeons?

Arbit

Even tho I imagine it’d be lots of fun to have our own unique dungeon. Idk how challenging such a project would be for the developers but I think it’d be fun more for RP purposes if such a project was to be undertaken. Having a dungeon or mapped out instance where you could create a story and give NPCs text dialogue. I don’t think player made dungeons with the intent of killing the invader would be as much fun as story driven instances. Who knows tho, maybe you can have the best of both worlds with some ppl making hell dungeons and RPers making docile story driven instances.

_Zathras_

This was done somewhat in EQ2. Limited creation dungeons that could be decorated, with mob number and placement as you wanted. I think they monetized some aspects of it.

Anyway, it was popular among the powerlevelers, as you could jam in clusters of mobs and then aoe them down while a lowbie soaked up the xp. It was also popular among the decorating community, as you had a much more dynamic place to create living environments.

If ESO improved on that concept, I believe it would be a feature a lot of people would enjoy. They would just have to remove the exploitability, while still retaining it as a fun, viable area of content that wouldn't take away from the rest of the game.

Rahar

Yeah, this would be awesome. The system might have to be simplified a bit (I'm thinking more like Oldschool Runescape's POH system with specific rooms you can place and stuff, instead of having it be more complex with designable room shapes) but it would be a lot of fun.

Nastassiya

_Zathras_ wrote: »

This was done somewhat in EQ2.

Yeah, I remember when Lost Dungeons of Norrath came out in EQ1. I was a bit let down by that expansion.

Dagoth_Rac

I could see something where players could upload their dungeons to PTS, and there would be some kind of peer-review system. And the highest-rated/most-reviewed dungeons could be pushed along to ZOS for final approval. I could see this kind of "curated" experience for player-developed content. But I am not sure about player dungeons just being freely available. I feel like that would be a buggy mess, exploit city, poorly balanced, etc.

Ackwalan

EQ2 had player made dungeons. There was no loot, but on completion you would be awarded tokens based on how many mobs were in it. These tokens could then be used to buy gear. If I remember correctly the gear was comparable to crafted gear. The system got abused. People would name their dungeons by how many tokens you would earn, for example, 5000 tokens 3 rooms. Some people would make some interesting dungeons, but most were just there to be farmed.