Quest Mode For Dungeons

Merlin13KAGL

Other, leave your idea below

• Use a premade group. (I'm sure there are 3 other people out there wanting the same option.)
• Walk in the front door (seems reasonable, since it would be tied to the immersion factor) - exceptions for this is the content is in a zone you otherwise don't have access to, then wayshrine instead.
• This also prevents it from being tied to the groupfinder, which is usually counter to story mode type scenarios anyway.
• Get your skillpoint at the end with no dialogue interruptions from in game aggro, with no other gear drops from the dungeon. No chests or container farming, either, unless story mode is a one shot deal per character (prevents using it for container farming only.)

DreamyLu

Other, leave your idea below

I have nothing against the idea as it doesn't affect me: it wouldn't make me go into dungeons more than now.

Personally, I believe that there is no business case for ZOS with that, so that it's not realistic to see it implemented. Don't forget that this forum is a very minor sample of the huge amount of ESO players world wide, and not really representative because those active enough to post in this forum are already a certain type of players, so that results are biased from the first.

Anyhow, back to the point: I don't believe that enough players could be interested into the concept, taking into consideration that the new generation of players just want things to go straight, without grinding and as fast as possible (this because they mostly play several games at same time).

Asileth

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Yes. Also would love the option to "replay" the quest in dungeons (no exp, no skill points) just to experience the lore and the great story.

Too many times, I grab the quest, thinking I'll have the time, and my group (even a guild group) rushes ahead and/or I feel that I'm holding them back so miss out.

Darrett

Other, leave your idea below

Yes for quest mode, but at current normal difficulty, half the current transmute rewards.

Then create a bridge difficulty between quest mode and veteran as the new “normal”, which increases enemy damage output and the importance of mechanics without being as strict as vet. Full rewards structure as per current normals.

MiguZ

No, I dont like this idea(please comment why)

No. We already have a quest mode. It is called Normal difficulty. Almost every dungeon is soloable on normal except maybe ones like blackheart haven and mazzatun where the last boss takes your skills away(which is a stupid mechanic please remove it zos). If a dungeon is not soloable, then do it with a friend. Im sure you can find someone around who wants to spend an hr in a normal dungeon with you. Would rather zos use their resources more wisely.

Tornaad

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

• Use a premade group. (I'm sure there are 3 other people out there wanting the same option.)
• Walk in the front door (seems reasonable, since it would be tied to the immersion factor) - exceptions for this is the content is in a zone you otherwise don't have access to, then wayshrine instead.
• This also prevents it from being tied to the groupfinder, which is usually counter to story mode type scenarios anyway.
• Get your skillpoint at the end with no dialogue interruptions from in game aggro, with no other gear drops from the dungeon. No chests or container farming, either, unless story mode is a one shot deal per character (prevents using it for container farming only.)

I am fine with requiring players to need to walk in the front door for quests, but for the group, I barely communicate with anyone in this game and I would much rather avoid needing to change that. Yes, I understand this is an MMO, but it is marketing to Elder Scrolls fans and I don't think it would take much to adjust the difficulty and turn off a few mechanics to enable story mode.

Woozywyvern

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

I like this idea, and think rewards should drop commensorate with overland rewards with the exception that no dungeon sets drop.

Lysette

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Always this reward focus - if you want the reward, do the work - this is about experiencing the story with pretty much no hassle, that doesn't require any reward other then having the opportunity, to take the time to actually listen to dialogues and get into the story - if there are rewards, it will be farmed and it is again a mess in those dungeons.

Monte_Cristo

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Amottica wrote: »

Monte_Cristo wrote: »

Ideas for story mode:
White grade loot only drops from mobs, no set items from bosses.
Gold drops reduced to 10% of normal.
Story mode only available once per dungeon per character. Once the quest is done, only normal/veteran modes are available for that character.
Keep the skill point and blue set item as the quest rewards, as they're tied to the quest, not the dungeon.
Monster difficulty set to somewhere between that of public dungeons and delves.

@Monte_Cristo

Having story mode drop white gear would reduce the quality of gear we get when we reconstruct dungeon pieces. Reconstruction is based on the lowest quality that set drops in. While we are only talking about the lower-tier upgrade matts, players tend to get upset when something is nerfed or taken away.

By having story mode drop nothing but maybe gold, the reward is the quest reward and being able to see the story at your own pace. That is the purpose of such a design and it would also allow the dungoen to be repeatable in case the player would like to see the story again.

The white gear I mentioned is non set stuff. Regular weapons and armour. I said no set items would drop.

merpins

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Yeah, I'd love to run through all the dungeons again but actually listen to all the quest dialogue and read all the notes left around the dungeons. I can do that already on my solo-templar, but not every dungeon can be soloed, and some are a bit too difficult for me to finish by myself (mostly cause I'm not perfect with sustain). But a more casual mode where bosses are on par with delve bosses and there are less mobs, but the chests and bosses don't drop dungeon equipment (maybe like, the trainee set would be appropriate for the dungeons like this). Just a casual way to go through for the story would be chill.

Caupo

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Exactly what I was preaching half a year ago. Even tho it is possible to do some dungeons solo on Normal, many DLC dungeons and some dungeons with player lock mechanics are just impossible to complete. At the very least ZOS could remove those mechanics if player enters the dungeon alone (with companion).

francesinhalover

Are the quests in dungeons even good? I just rush them. Not worth a kick

Danikat

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

• Use a premade group. (I'm sure there are 3 other people out there wanting the same option.)
• Walk in the front door (seems reasonable, since it would be tied to the immersion factor) - exceptions for this is the content is in a zone you otherwise don't have access to, then wayshrine instead.
• This also prevents it from being tied to the groupfinder, which is usually counter to story mode type scenarios anyway.
• Get your skillpoint at the end with no dialogue interruptions from in game aggro, with no other gear drops from the dungeon. No chests or container farming, either, unless story mode is a one shot deal per character (prevents using it for container farming only.)

How do you propose forming a pre-made group?

There might well be other people out there looking to do it at the same time but unless they're in your guild or the same copy of the map you are (remember there can be multiple copies of each map on each server) you have no way to communicate with them and therefore no way to form a group.

I suppose an alternative to story mode dungeons could be a better grouping tool which lets players choose a group rather than being dumped into the first one with a space. That way people who just want to get in and out as fast as possible could advertise something like "fast run, experienced players only" and someone wanting to do the quest could write something like "casual quest run, please wait for everyone to be ready before moving on" and then players could choose which one to join, knowing they'll end up with like-minded people.

But the way it works now it's just not practical. Even if only 1 person in the group wants to rush through the dungeon it leaves everyone else with no choice but to do it their way of accept they'll be pulled out of dialogues half way through, miss key steps and boss fights and likely get kicked out the dungeon before they're finished.

spartaxoxo

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Woozywyvern wrote: »

I like this idea, and think rewards should drop commensorate with overland rewards with the exception that no dungeon sets drop.

Same here. I think it should be on par in terms of difficulty and reward with a public dungeon.

orgin_stadia

There are other reason for wanting to go slow besides quests.

So I think it would be better to split the normal queue into two.
- normal, for questing, looting, noobing and whatnot.
- expert, for people who enjoy figuring out out how to dominate the dungeons.

I suspect that a pure "quest" mode will have an insane queue time.

Lysette

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

orgin_stadia wrote: »

There are other reason for wanting to go slow besides quests.

So I think it would be better to split the normal queue into two.
- normal, for questing, looting, noobing and whatnot.
- expert, for people who enjoy figuring out out how to dominate the dungeons.

I suspect that a pure "quest" mode will have an insane queue time.

if it has a queue I won't do it - for example - if a story mode, then it should be possible to do it on my own - eventually with a companion - but if it is this MMO stuff again, a lot might just not do it at all - people coming from single player games are not that fond of having to play with others - I certainly don't want to and they could make it as good as they want - if it is just accessible with this MMO stuff, then no.

ZeroDPS

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

MiguZ wrote: »

No. We already have a quest mode. It is called Normal difficulty. Almost every dungeon is soloable on normal except maybe ones like blackheart haven and mazzatun where the last boss takes your skills away(which is a stupid mechanic please remove it zos). If a dungeon is not soloable, then do it with a friend. Im sure you can find someone around who wants to spend an hr in a normal dungeon with you. Would rather zos use their resources more wisely.

why cant you understand that not all players can do normal alone?? really, you think everyone can do it solo? I think 80%+ of new players unable to do it

AlnilamE

Other, leave your idea below

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

• Use a premade group. (I'm sure there are 3 other people out there wanting the same option.)
  

Even just one more player and 2 companions would get you through most dungeons. So just one more person would do it.

Darrett wrote: »

Yes for quest mode, but at current normal difficulty, half the current transmute rewards.

There would be no queue for this option, so no transmute rewards. People want a solo instance of the dungeon where they can take their time with the story.

Azphel

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

One of the reasons I dropped ESO+ was that I had no guarantee I could play 2 of the 3 yearly dlcs.

No group will ever rp walk through a dlc dungeon with me, check every backpack and wardrobe, tolerate screenshot stops, or wait patiently when I go afk several times throughout the run. It would be unpleasant for others and selfish of me. This is why I've never been in a group in ESO, I'm 100% solo. This is an mmo, sure, but it's also a TES game, and I'm here for the latter.

As for the "no loot" idea, I wouldn't care if it concerned base game dungeons only. 1500 crowns for two quests, though? Make it cheaper for story mode only, or include loot.

Snamyap

Other, leave your idea below

ZeroDPS wrote: »

MiguZ wrote: »

No. We already have a quest mode. It is called Normal difficulty. Almost every dungeon is soloable on normal except maybe ones like blackheart haven and mazzatun where the last boss takes your skills away(which is a stupid mechanic please remove it zos). If a dungeon is not soloable, then do it with a friend. Im sure you can find someone around who wants to spend an hr in a normal dungeon with you. Would rather zos use their resources more wisely.

why cant you understand that not all players can do normal alone?? really, you think everyone can do it solo? I think 80%+ of new players unable to do it

Why should all content be accessible to new players? Is it really to much to ask that you have to put some time and effort into developing your character before you can access the more challenging stuff?
It felt good for me when I could hold my ground in a public dungeon for the first time, and it felt good to me when I solo cleared my first group dungeon. I would have found it very lame if I could have done that in my first week.

Azphel

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Snamyap wrote: »

Why should all content be accessible to new players? Is it really to much to ask that you have to put some time and effort into developing your character before you can access the more challenging stuff?
It felt good for me when I could hold my ground in a public dungeon for the first time, and it felt good to me when I solo cleared my first group dungeon. I would have found it very lame if I could have done that in my first week.

No amount of time and effort will get you past an anti-solo mechanic.

Barring such mechanics, why should someone watch git gud tutorials if they only care about having a chat with Lyris in Icereach as part of the year-long story? All that know-how is irrelevant in overworld. If given the choice, I would still go for a soloable normal, but the story mode is meant for people who wouldn't go there without it. It's not about replacing anything.

NeeScrolls

No, I dont like this idea(please comment why)

ZeroDPS wrote: »

2. New players almost unable to solo even normal dungeon

So would you like having this mode in the game guys? Lets vote!!
@ZOS_Kevin

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hey Thanks for the feedback and thought toward improving the player experience for both new and existing players. We'll keep tabs on the feedback here and pass along the thread for future consideration after more players have been able to share thoughts.

Thanks and look forward to the feedback!

While i appreciate the OP's sentiment, i voted 'NO' because of the following reasons:
1. Group-dungeons aren't meant to be solo'd, since this is technically still MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online RPG)
2. Some group-dungeons can actually already be solo'd by players at a certain level of experience & expertise...as well as players with maxed Level 20 Companion + particular class/skill combo
3. Whenever i want to really take my time & pay attention to dungeon story (or scenery) , i'll either group with a friend or a guildmate....or....i'll ask one of the many super nice players in zone-chat to simply group with me as "back up" while they go after any remaining armor-sets loot they may need for 'stickerbook' completion
4. After i finish a queue'd dungeon w/ random players on standard "speed run" , i'll go back and re-read all previous dialog chat from the NPC's & bosses in my 'quest' chat tab (the game usually logs all important story chats)
5. Zenimax developers have a very busy code-plate ahead of them for this year 2022 and time/resources would be better spent elsewhere (in my opinion )

Ravensilver

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

I would *sooo* love this! I am a total quest and story fan, to the point where I won't go into current dungeons anymore, unless and until I have a group that's just as interested in doing them in 'slow' mode. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often, so I miss most of the story line that happens in a dungeon and I really find that a shame.

Amottica

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Monte_Cristo wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Monte_Cristo wrote: »

Ideas for story mode:
White grade loot only drops from mobs, no set items from bosses.
Gold drops reduced to 10% of normal.
Story mode only available once per dungeon per character. Once the quest is done, only normal/veteran modes are available for that character.
Keep the skill point and blue set item as the quest rewards, as they're tied to the quest, not the dungeon.
Monster difficulty set to somewhere between that of public dungeons and delves.

@Monte_Cristo

Having story mode drop white gear would reduce the quality of gear we get when we reconstruct dungeon pieces. Reconstruction is based on the lowest quality that set drops in. While we are only talking about the lower-tier upgrade matts, players tend to get upset when something is nerfed or taken away.

By having story mode drop nothing but maybe gold, the reward is the quest reward and being able to see the story at your own pace. That is the purpose of such a design and it would also allow the dungoen to be repeatable in case the player would like to see the story again.

The white gear I mentioned is non set stuff. Regular weapons and armour. I said no set items would drop.

And that would be fine. THen the only difference of opinion if being able to replay it. With such minimal rewards upon replaying it there would be no real benefit other than to see the story again.

The easiest way for Zenimax to implement this is to use the current normal mode, eliminate any mechanics that require two players such as in Direfrost Keep where two players have to stand on opposite pressure pannels to open the door to proceed. Zenimax can make strong NPC to help with the tanking, healing and DPS. This eliminates the need for the heavier lifting of rescaling the dungeon for such a mode.

Lady_Galadhiel

No, I dont like this idea(please comment why)

95% of the game you can play solo, leave the 5% be actual group content as it's still an MMO not a single player RPG.

ZeroDPS

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Snamyap wrote: »

ZeroDPS wrote: »

MiguZ wrote: »

No. We already have a quest mode. It is called Normal difficulty. Almost every dungeon is soloable on normal except maybe ones like blackheart haven and mazzatun where the last boss takes your skills away(which is a stupid mechanic please remove it zos). If a dungeon is not soloable, then do it with a friend. Im sure you can find someone around who wants to spend an hr in a normal dungeon with you. Would rather zos use their resources more wisely.

why cant you understand that not all players can do normal alone?? really, you think everyone can do it solo? I think 80%+ of new players unable to do it

Why should all content be accessible to new players? Is it really to much to ask that you have to put some time and effort into developing your character before you can access the more challenging stuff?
It felt good for me when I could hold my ground in a public dungeon for the first time, and it felt good to me when I solo cleared my first group dungeon. I would have found it very lame if I could have done that in my first week.

Im not talking about Gryphon Heart achievement or something similar, Im talking just about story mode in dungeons which is not connected to player level in any way

Ashryn

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

I'm old. I have Fibromyalgia that limits how long I can tolerate a tough fight with a boss and can only solo normal beginning dungeons. Going through dungeons and trials to hear the stories, take my time and read, and do some fighting...THAT would open up a lot more content for me to enjoy. I'm an Introvert who prefers SOLO play and have pretty much completed most things except dungeons and trials. I group up when forced to, but don't enjoy it - ESPECIALLY how groups mindlessly run through all dungeons!

FeedbackOnly

Yes, I like this idea and want to get into the story

Honestly 6 years into game. I don't know any dungeon story. Just the pressure of a group makes it impossible to enjoy it. Even if they say it's fine or waited, I don't want to hold up group

FlopsyPrince

Other, leave your idea below

I am a compulsive quester and I don't even read all the replies there.

You could probably get this same thing by working to make a guild group/event to do this. Surely at least 3 other people in one of the many active guilds would enjoy doing this on an alt at least.

I think I have read enough snippets from most dungeons to have the core ideas in place even though I missed some things. It does mean dev work on dialog and such in those was somewhat wasted, but that is not my concern.

I just want the skillpoint!

peacenote

No, I dont like this idea(please comment why)

My answer probably could also be "other" but I feel like my answer needs to offset the "yeses" which, in my personal opinion, aren't really considering the broader picture.

To be clear: I'm not an unreasonable monster and if this could be easily and quickly implemented with no negative impact to anything else, I would be all for it. However, I truly doubt this is the case.

First - I think it is important that ZOS is consistent about its philosophy and direction so that we can generally know what to expect from the game. Inconsistent changes in priority and strategy only adds to toxicity and dividing the player base. And I'm seeing more and more threads and videos pop up about toxicity. I don't think this is something that should be quickly dismissed.

From that perspective, ZOS tends to spend resources on new content, instead of going back and improving old content. Is this good or bad? I don't know... but I do know that with "fake tank" and "support is dying" and "overland difficulty" coming up every day, I'm not really on board with significant resources going into a "story mode" if updating older dungeons isn't also on the priority list. Otherwise it very clearly sets a message that the solo players are more important than the people here for group content. They shouldn't be more important, or less important - they should be equally important.

Also, ZOS has kept a very good balance of honoring that ESO is an MMO while also appealing to the folks who are here because of Elder Scrolls lore. We have a nice mix of solo and group content. Dungeons fall into the "group content" area and I'd rather not see significant resources go into a story mode such that there's more solo content without opportunities for more group content too. I think that strategy and balance of having solo content but some things that require grouping is important.

Second - Kind of related to the first. I believe there is a reason public dungeons, delves, and normal dungeons aren't instanced content besides wanting a mix of open world/grouping content. There has to be some kind of hard limit for instances and, seeing as we already have performance issues, unless that can be increased, I don't think story mode instances should be allowed to "steal" from what is meant to be resources for group content. If adding a story mode means there will be consistently less resources available for actual dungeon runs... I don't think that's a good trade off. Given the amount of people that ask for a story mode, I think this is likely to happen since going through a normal dungeon solo or with friends isn't satisfying people. I know that sounds contradictory. Another way to say it is: because a lot of people do seem to want this, it means that they aren't using the current options, which means should it come to exist it likely will steal from the amount of active dungeons that can be open, unless ZOS has a way to increase resources.

Third - I agree with others who have said that it is not great that the dungeons are part of the year long story arc, and that it is exacerbating this problem. I would, though, like to add that I have the opposite experience of many. I enjoy dungeons and trials. I quest, but I take my time and I'm always about two stories behind the current release. I like to run the new dungeons right away, though - especially if there is good gear to get. So it drives me bonkers that I get the stories out of order, and that the only way to fix that would be to wait until I catch up on questing to step foot in the dungeons. It is good that the content has some kind of point/story but it should really be self-contained. So. I don't want story mode to "fix" the "issue" that questers don't want to miss the story in dungeons. It's only half the problem. I really think they should reconsider including that content directly in the arc. And, btw, solving this only for the questers takes me back to my first point about being sure to equally prioritize everyone's needs and not trending too much towards the lore folks vs. the MMO folks. (I am generalizing for simplicity; I definitely am aware that things are not always that clear cut.)

Fourth - I can actually read pretty fast, and I often have good experiences taking my alts through normal dungeons to get the skill point and experience the story. I do worry that opening up a story mode will eliminate what's left of the community's patience for questers. Right now you can say "I'm doing the quest" and most folks will be oK with that. I am envisioning kicks and "gtfo, do story mode" responses if a story mode becomes available.

Basically, I know this response is very long, but I have concerns that catering to this idea that people who dislike combat should have a story mode, when normal mode is already SO easy, will ultimately increase toxicity across the community, by de-valuing the idea (which is against what was always an ESO core concept, btw) that we should all try all aspects of the game, and endorsing that it is "OK" for players to not have patience for others in shared content whose goals aren't quite the same as theirs, because ZOS will just make a new experience aimed at those different viewpoints. Additionally I am concerned that this will impact performance for people who actually want to run dungeons, and will take away from resources that could be better used to providing new content, fixing bugs, and whatnot, in the game.

A compromise would be to make it so dungeon (and trial) stories are self contained or not directly impactful to the main year long story arc in the future, and to create branches for instanced, solo stories ONLY for the years where this was so, such that people could take each character through once, when they reach the appropriate point in the story via questing. It would be better than an ongoing need to provide a story mode for all instances, and it would acknowledge the problem with including this content in the long story arc, and fix the issue going forward. For folks like me who had to experience the story out of order, you can't really fix that, but you can show that you understand this viewpoint by not continuing to make it happen in the future.