Good multiplayer dungeon crawlers?

[Falconeer]

Me and my long time friends have been meeting once every few weeks to play coop games together, and even though you are all gonna laugh we found a game that was working perfectly for us in Wizardry Online. Which is going to be shut down in a few months.

What now?

What we are looking for is:

- Suitable for 4 players.
- Working decently on 2 years old laptops.
- Based only on dungeons. This is the main reason why we are not considering any of the traditional MMORPGs. No one feels like doing fed ex quests. We want a dungeon, challenge it, loot it and move to the next.
- Cannot be turn based.

Wizardry Online was perfect for us as it offered 4 people content, very smooth play on any computer, it was just a series of dungeons and a city hub to level up and sell stuff, and it had action-y combat. It was ugly as hell but since we are not young we didn't care about that one bit.

Any suggestion? I am under the impression that there aren't many games like that out and it's mostly a Japanese kind of games. In fact, the closest thing I could think of is Phantasy Star Online. And I might actually have to wait for Phantasy Star Online 2. Help!

[Falconeer]

HA! I have one potential answer: Vindictus!

But more are welcome. Vindictus sucks loot-wise and it might not run on some of out oldest laptops.

[Merusk]

I have no experience with either game but what you described sounds like any other arpg out there.  What makes them different from Diablo or Path of Exile that you can't do one of those?

[Falconeer]

I have barely touched Path of Exile but in regards to Diablo I would say that the dungeons are just an excuse for loot and are mostly uninteresting to me. To the point that you exhaust them all very quickly and are supposed to run them again at a hardest difficulty setting. Don't get me wrong, I thought about it and I like those games. I just feel we are looking here more for a game where the dungeons are the protagonists, and procedurally generated ones are not the best at that. Handcrafted dungeons, with traps and secrets. Sadly, both Vindictus and Phantasy Star Online fail that requirement.

[eldaec]

It sounds like you want mmorpg style dungeons, without the Fed ex. You could just not do the Fed ex quests.

Torchlight 2 I guess?

[Falconeer]

Torchlight 2 is randomly generated, isn't it?

You could say I want MMORPG dungeons without the overland part and the overland quests, not just the Fed Exs, and I don't want to run around in an open world from city hub to dungeon and back. It's not time efficient for the kind of game sessions we have and doesn't add anything in our case. We also don't want the out-of-dungeon grind that usually separates one dungeon from the next.

But with all that said, I think it's unfair to call good handcrafted dungeons "MMORPG dungeons" as there's a myriad of crappy MMORPG dungeons out there, more than good ones. In fact, I think it's more appropriate to say that I want some good single-player RPG dungeons in a coop fashion. Which is what Wizardry did well in its goofy way.

What's the state of D&D Online these days?

[Hawkbit]

Dunno about DDO, but Neverwinter is structured similarly to a tabletop experience.  There's more story than the average dungeon crawler.  Plus, the player foundry provides limitless new content.

[Goreschach]

DDO should be just about perfect for what you're talking about. I haven't played it in years, but apparently the f2p switch worked out pretty well for it. It sounds like the dungeons are just what you're looking for. The two biggest problems with the game were the lack of content at launch and the population crash making it difficult to find reliable non-pug groups. Neither of those should be a problem for you now. The game really was ahead of its time.

[Rokal]

Yep, sounds like DDO fits the bill. 100% of the game is unique dungeons without fetch quests. You don't need to repeat any to get to level cap at this point either, but you'll need to spend money to unlock dungeons if you want to go that route.

[Hoax]

Neverwinter for sure can work, you can level just in the player created stuff doing unique and interesting dungeon runs over and over.

Or if the computers can handle it just play Tera. You can level only in dungeons or at least spend 75% in dungeons for that game once you are something like L20 which you get quite quickly. The dungeons are really great though you wouldn't get to run each one just once to progress but if you want to get a full set of gear on everybody (which you will need) that's fine. As for having four people instead of five. It will be more challenging/fun but its def doable. I did every dungeon all the way to L50'ish until they started adding enrage timers with 3 people and we could have done it with 3 with better class composition (we had a warrior as our only dps and a mystic instead of a priest).

Vindictus is def worth looking at. Or the other games of that genre. Dungeon Fighter Online is still kicking. There is Rusty Hearts and a few others I'm sure you can google up.

What about Shadowrun? Does it have enough player made content yet?

[Nebu]

Yep, sounds like DDO fits the bill. 100% of the game is unique dungeons without fetch quests. You don't need to repeat any to get to level cap at this point either, but you'll need to spend money to unlock dungeons if you want to go that route.

He did say "Good". 

DDO was a fun romp for a few dungeons, but it gets stale fast.  It also requires a balanced group for best results.  That can put a cramp on things if someone doesn't want to play the 4 standard roles in a party.

[Goldenmean]

Have you tried Rusty Hearts or Dragon Nest? I never played Wizardry Online, but RH and DN are both very much in the Vindictus family of games. I have no idea what Rusty Heart's status is. The servers are still running, but they don't seem to have gotten a major patch in more than a year. I just tuned in to Dragon Nest again about a month ago. They're definitely still very active, just raised the level cap again.

I've played both of those in short bursts since they launched, and they're fun for a couple of weeks, but then get too grindy for me and I lose interest again. I've never had a group of friends playing with me though. I'm sure that changes the dynamic.

Blade and Soul is meant to be the upcoming new hotness for that sort of thing, but I feel like I've been hearing about it forever, and haven't seen any progress being made.

[Goldenmean]

Dungeon Fighter Online is still kicking.

The US version is dead, which is a shame, as it was my go to dungeon grinder.

There's still korean/chinese/etc. servers.

[Ingmar]

Thirding DDO. Sounds exactly right for what you want.

[Kail]

Forced is on Steam, and is 50% off at the moment.  I can't vouch for it personally, but it sounds like it might be close?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/249990/

Or maybe Hammerwatch?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/239070/

[PalmTrees]

Vindictus is fun at the lower levels. But eventually you get into an insane Korean grind to get your next gear upgrade. At least, that's how it was when I last played a couple of years ago.  Dragon Nest was fun, but could be a bit repetitive. Story lines send you to same dungeons over and over.

[Goldenmean]

Vindictus is fun at the lower levels. But eventually you get into an insane Korean grind to get your next gear upgrade. At least, that's how it was when I last played a couple of years ago.  Dragon Nest was fun, but could be a bit repetitive. Story lines send you to same dungeons over and over.

Yeah, Dragon Nest is at its best when there's an XP boost going on. Whenever there's one of those I hit the current level cap with a character pretty easily. When there's not, boredom sets in after the 5th run of a particular dungeon

Also, in regards to Forced, it might work, but it's less about running dungeons and more about a series of arenas. It's fairly entertaining, and would be more so with a group, but might not have the endurance your typical MMO like affair might have.

[Ghambit]

Build a custom cocktail-table version of Gauntlet.  Or find a used stand-up one layin' around somewhere.

[Megrim]

Buy some pre-made 3.5 D&D adventures.

Run them for your friends.

Profit.

[Falconeer]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Apparently we are gonna go with D&D Online and see if it's fun since based on the features list it seems to be the closest to what we are looking for. About Pen and Paper, we've been playing that bi-monthly for 25 years :) We need a video game break from time to time.

[Xilren's Twin]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Apparently we are gonna go with D&D Online and see if it's fun since based on the features list it seems to be the closest to what we are looking for. About Pen and Paper, we've been playing that bi-monthly for 25 years :) We need a video game break from time to time.

Couple of things to keep in mind about DDO (which i also recommend).  First, you only get XP for completing dungeons not killing monsters (outside of a few outdoor areas which are totally skipable) so you don't have clear one to succeed.  You can earn bonus XP for completing optional objectives in dungeons too including fully exploring them and finding all the secret doors and such.  Linked series of quests had rewards for completeing each individual one, and then and end reward too.  Once you complete a dungeon, you can repeat it at the same or higher difficulty settings.  And if you goal is to play through a dungeon similarly to the way you would approach a pen and paper session, do NOT pick up random people who are mostly likely on their 3+ character and just speed run through them which quite frankly, kills the exploration fun.  Some of the mid level and higher level dungeons are actually quite long so budget your time accordingly.

In terms of general gameplay, you can do some min/maxing of class mixing with their hybrid version of D&D rules, but there are benefits to sticking with a single class all the way to the max.  Dealing with traps is needed so make sure at least someone in the party can do that - same for finding secret doors.  Heights matter, as does water, so getting items of featherfalling and underwater breathing are actually needed in many places.  Pay attention to monster weapon immunities and such - your stuff can break too so dont go attacking slimes with weapons you want to keep around.  There's a ton more but it's not rocket science but it IS it's own learning curve; DDO is just a very different animal than just about any other MMO i ever played.

Oh, and if you see a nice chest standing all by it's lonesome in a dungeon, it's pretty much a guarantee that opening it triggers a trap or monster spawn 

[Shannow]

Arctic MUD

Will definitely run on 2 year old (or 20 year old) laptops.

Hey you didn't say you required graphics!

[Samprimary]

if i'm permitted to use a really super stretchy extra-liberal definition of 'dungeon' and 'crawling' then Guns of Icarus Online is a ... sky dungeon .. steampunk .. dirigible .. crawler, where you play as a crew of four people on a ship.

[Kail]

Yeah, or Street Fighter IV could be a four player dungeon crawler if you run two 2-player games simultaneously with the castle backdrop.  You can even defeat the Balrog... OR CAN YOU

[tazelbain]

I would love a scarce-resource competitive dungeon running game.

[Soulflame]

So... Gauntlet?

[Falconeer]

First meeting is Thursday, we are going to try D&D Online. I've created a char and ran the intro but I have a horrible issue with the camera though: I am trying to move around like I do in any other MMORPG (WASD + Right Mouse Button for camera) but the camera snaps randomly at weird angles whenever I use the right mouse button too much. It seems nothing but it's terribly annoying and I can't figure out what the hell is going on there. Anyway, I'll keep you posted. First impression is like... walking in a mall. Everything is for sale! But it's also kind of cute. The Dungeon Master voice was cool 8 years ago and it's still cool nowadays.

[tazelbain]

So... Gauntlet?

DDO meets LoL

Every 10 mins a dungeon is created at random. Every 4-man team(thief,archanist,warrior,engineer) that queue during that window will run an instance of the dungeon and are scored and ranked against each other. Scoring would emphasize completing as much of dungeon (collecting most treasure) before your resources (hp, mana, endurance, equipment, tools) run out. The dungeons would be extremely punitive and failure is almost certain. Best failure wins.

[kaid]

Yep, sounds like DDO fits the bill. 100% of the game is unique dungeons without fetch quests. You don't need to repeat any to get to level cap at this point either, but you'll need to spend money to unlock dungeons if you want to go that route.

And DDO works best if you have a set group of friends adventuring together. It also is one of the few games I have ever seen do hidden areas, lots of traps and puzzles and things for thief's to actually make use of their thieving abilities and not just stabbing people in the backs.

[KallDrexx]

So... Gauntlet?

DDO meets LoL

Every 10 mins a dungeon is created at random. Every 4-man team(thief,archanist,warrior,engineer) that queue during that window will run an instance of the dungeon and are scored and ranked against each other. Scoring would emphasize completing as much of dungeon (collecting most treasure) before your resources (hp, mana, endurance, equipment, tools) run out. The dungeons would be extremely punitive and failure is almost certain. Best failure wins.

I'd buy it....

[Malakili]

Well, they are remaking Gauntlet.

[Falconeer]

And it looks nice, although not as good as the original. Anyone know how actually bad was the remake of The Bard's Tale?

[Ironwood]

It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't Bard's Tale.

[Segoris]

Fight of the Dragon could be a possibility. It is still in alpha, but here is a list of current, in process, and planned development items.

Otherwise
-Hammerwatch
-Adventure/rift mode in Diablo 3
-Torchlight 2 with the Endless Dungeon mod. Basically, levels get tougher as you go down, if it gets too tough you port out and re-enter to a newly generated dungeon and have another go.

[eldaec]

Also trying DDO following some of the comments here.

And while it is fun, I can't help thinking I'd really like a button where I can just pay them a reasonable number of English pounds to make all the 'premium feature!' bullshit go away. There might even be one. I wouldn't know as the game and shop interfaces are 'refreshingly old school'.

The dungeons themselves seem fun though.