Hello! I just watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuyuiBkrX8 !!
It was said that no content is instanced.... Will raids be instanced?????? Not having raids instanced is a major red flag for my self and a lot of fellow MMORPG players!
Dungeons or Raids will very sure not be instanced, this was stated by the developers several times. Maybe some story relevant or final parts of a quest chain may be instanced, but this was not 100% confirmed, they only thought about this.
Here is a statement out of the FAQ (https://www.pantheonmmo.com/game/faqs/)
All dungeons are open world. There are no plans for instanced dungeons at this time. The dungeons will be very large to handle multiple groups of players. More shards/servers will be added if overpopulation becomes a problem.
This is an intentional design decision as it is not entirely a bad thing. It's important to not assume that because open world raiding has caused certain problems in other games that those same problems will automatically be present in Pantheon. The team has personally played many games like this and are therefore intimately aware of the potential unpleasant player situations as they have experienced them firsthand. They have several ideas to mitigate these potential problems. In addition to Landbert's quote above, I'll also add this quote from the FAQ:
By creating plenty of content, a large world, not allowing shards to become overpopulated (for example, by quickly launching new shards), possible systems and rules within specific shards, and if things get out of hand to involve Customer Service (GMs). Above all, we want to use positive reinforcement by making sure that there is enough content and an epic enough world to minimize these issues.
We also want to make sure there will be plenty of great items and choices for adventuring all over the world – for example, we want to avoid there being just a single sought-after item for a specific class at a specific level. Similarly powerful and valued items will be available elsewhere in the world.
Furthermore, watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK3HJTSZG6c&feature=youtu.be&t=2265
The pros and cons have been discussed many times by the community. See these threads:
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/7438/open-world-concerns
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/3785/open-world-raiding-grouping-contested
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/5349/raiding-open-world-instances-amp-zerging
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/1794/open-world-dungeons-persistent-dungeons
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/4900/open-or-guided-raid-zones
Champion:
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/1427/open-dungeons-and-raid-content
VIP:
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/5191/instance-dungeons-and-raids
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/7102/open-zone-vs-instances
I'm assuming there will be some other mechanism to thwart griefing/kill stealing if raids are not instanced. I do recall something about kills being awarded to most damage done, which could definitely add another type of challenge to raids after the game has been live for a while... guilds competing for DPS on raid encounters (potentially making the raid encounters trivial with multiple guilds contributing). Or it could turn into a lag-fest for some people depending on performance of 100's of players attacking a boss all at the same time...
Coming from a pvp server in EQ1, the raid zones were instanced, but shared instances (anyone could enter your instance). This made for some pretty amazing guild vs guild pvp... but this was back before it was a norm to grief and troll, which could ruin the PvE experience of the game instantly... Training, taunting a boss to face the melee DPS to get riposted... summoning obstructions like shields and walls (which sounds like some mechanics of CC), or maybe buffing NPCs with damage shields... IDK, there are a lot of possibilities to raise concern. Personally I am ok with whatever the devs decide, but I can completely understand the "red flags" raised for most.
Ionz said:Hello! I just watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuyuiBkrX8 !!
It was said that no content is instanced.... Will raids be instanced?????? Not having raids instanced is a major red flag for my self and a lot of fellow MMORPG players!
So go enjoy every single other MMO on the market, or poke your head out of the box WOW drew for you and enjoy a real world.
Ionz said:Hello! I just watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuyuiBkrX8 !!
It was said that no content is instanced.... Will raids be instanced?????? Not having raids instanced is a major red flag for my self and a lot of fellow MMORPG players!
Welcome to the game. If that is a red flag for you I wonder what else you wouldn't agree with?
Speaking of red flags....if that is your first post I wonder if this is a game you will enjoy?
Ionz said:Hello! I just watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuyuiBkrX8 !!
It was said that no content is instanced.... Will raids be instanced?????? Not having raids instanced is a major red flag for my self and a lot of fellow MMORPG players!
I'm curious Ionz,
Have you ever actually played a MMO with non instanced raids and seen "problems" first hand? Or are you just basing your concerns om what others have said?
If you HAVE, what Game and what were some of the unacceptable problems you experienced?
ps. Not hearsay, we've all heard the stories, I'm asking about your first hand experience.
Instances were the solution to the problems caused by overcompetition seen in EQ. I've seen what happens when people fight over such things for years (thanks, p99) and it's terrible, so I understand the concern. At the same time, it forced interactions outside of your guild and generally made for an unforgettable experience as you surmounted challenges both scripted by devs and thrown at you by other players.
Instance tech has really grown a lot in games to the point where you can be standing in front of an NPC next to someone else and if you're not at a specific part of a quest, you won't see that NPC at all or be able to talk to them, despite being in an open world.
Not sure what's in store for us with Pantheon, but hopefully they find a good compromise. I'm not much of a raider so I have no ideas on this subject.
PS:
Krixus said:So go enjoy every single other MMO on the market, or poke your head out of the box WOW drew for you and enjoy a real world.
No need for elitism like this, in my opinion. Elitism often leads to willful obliviousness and an inability to recognize and react to problems or obstacles that pop up, so I don't think it has a place in dev forums. I think the OP brings up a valid concern, especially for those of us who came after EQ.
