I think that would be a lot of fun myself. As long as it wasn’t based around perfect execution. I’m all for raid fights that are more forgiving but require different tactical needs on most executions.

I’m thinking of more dynamic tactics, even, so that it’s a game of act, counteract, with the raid party actions dictating the reactions of the boss critter and vice versa. (Or group of critters, for that matter.) It would, of course, mean a lot more programming and better AI, which means an investment of time and effort… which is why it’s good to know if that’s even what is desired in the first place.

Puzzle encounters are easy to program, relatively speaking. Easier to play, too… I just can’t help but think that one, dynamic content means more fun because of the increased relevance of tactical decisions, and two, potentially harder challenges to overcome, that mean something beyond perfect execution of a plan. To be sure, execution of a tight plan is a great thing, too… but it’s all we have at the moment in the market. I’m theorizing about where things *might* go, and it’s nice to hear from those who would probably be the prime consumers.

I’ve personally never been one to mind answering questions. That is sort of my thing so you’ll have to be careful! I rarely stop.

I like what you’re talking about but there are some issues that I can see with it. As an individual I would say I love the idea of raids being dynamic. That would be interesting and fun.

As a raid leader I see it being a nightmare really. These things are quite complex and getting all of my ducks in a row was hard enough when the fight didn’t change every time. For us, a big portion of the excitement was figuring out the puzzle. The other half was executing the appropriate tactics. Neither was more important though.

Now, if raids weren’t so finely tuned and “perfect execution” intensive, I’d say awesome. If we could reasonably react in a fight to a change and not immediately wipe that would be enjoyable.

I would cation against “different versions” of raid mobs though. It isn’t really dynamic because there are usually a finite amount of options. We would just run in on spawn test which one it is and then execute the appropriate strategy. It is still, “the same mob” though.

I realize that sounds fickle but a big portion of raiding is the experience. We would visit amazing places, see a monster that is fairly unique, have it use unique abilities and figure out how to beat it. There is some room for dynamic content but the fun factor would diminish with each kill regardless. Lady Vox breathing ice or fire is still Lady Vox.

I suspected that the draw would still be there, at least for the first shot, but I’m interested in how quickly that interest diminishes, and how to keep the experience alive. (Not because I want people to stick around for sub money, but because I want to make something that keeps being fun.) I figure that there would also be some variability if you change your roster, but that almost requires a script to run, and the only variable is your team composition and execution.

If you have a team that runs like clockwork, and you’re not seeing a lot of turnover in membership, could dynamic content keep you on your toes enough to have fun, or do you need puzzle-like encounters to really get that achievement rush?

Of course, that does lead to another set of questions: How much would you pay for a game that has more dynamic content creation under the hood, making for a variable raid experience every time? Do you want it to be the same *until you beat it*, like a puzzle, or would you like to think on your feet and handle dynamic content within certain playground rules? (Say, it’s always a Dragon fight, but sometimes the dragon employs different tactics.)

In other words, what is the biggest draw? Figuring out a puzzle or beating an unpredictable foe? Herding other players to execute perfectly according to a script, or relying on other players and their ingenuity to handle tactically variable situations?

Are you willing to pay one time for one puzzle that you are trying to solve, or are you more interested in paying continually for something that might change in dynamic ways?

Buuncha beat me to the punch on this one.

Would we do it for no loot? Absolutely so! The question is in my mind is, would we do it more than three times? Truthfully? No. We’d move on to the next thing. If there is no reason to gear for the next fight we would consume content at insane rates.

I would even do it more than three times if we got purely cosmetic loot with no power increase. Looking different is important to me. Not to everyone though.

We would gladly raid without loot but we wouldn’t be spending too much time in the MMO if content ran out.

So to honestly answer your question; if someone managed to develop a game that had fun character progression that did not involve loot and provided challenging content for us to conquer, we would most assuredly try anhd conquer it. The caveat being howev4er, as I stated before, that we would only need to do it once if it wasn’t required for progressing to the next PvE challenge.

The competitive spirit is what drives hardcore raiders, loot is a bonus. Why else would you leave ventrilo on all night with it turned up loud to hear someone yell “VAZGOK IS UP!!!” if you weren’t competitive? Why would you spend free time running from zone to zone to check on contested mobs if you weren’t competitive. To see one up and send out the rally call to battle was awesome. A fond memory for sure, and it was never about the loot until the mob was dead and victory was ours =)