TLDR at the bottom.
Recently, the decision was made to make the 5th Battle of Potterworld Dungeon permanent to the game as a challenge for the level 60 range. While this is not a grave problem by any means, I do not believe it was the right thing to do. (Before you read, please note that I think that the dungeon was a great event temporarily and I thought it was a nice send-off to official roleplay so thank you to all the people who worked on it!)
Most people know by now that dungeons and gauntlets are two different things, but it has been put into question whether dungeons really offer enough change to be their own seperate entity. So what does the Battle of Potterworld offer that Revenant doesn't?
Gameplay? No. The gameplay in the dungeon is not really comparable to that of Revenant's. The dungeon is extremely easy to defeat, with bosses that have limited and rather unspectacular attacks. Unlike Revenant, you do not have to be constantly moving and paying attention to avoid being chucked into lava or stomped on by Zerxes, instead you just have to repeatedly cast spells at 4 different humans - none of which have quite the same pizzazz as the Enchantress, large Zexes, or even the late Yassmir. No tactics or teamwork is really needed and getting a team isn't about the skill of the players, but instead about whether they'll actually join or not.
What about puzzles then? Eh, maybe. The Dungeon is perhaps famous for its ludicrous amount of running and jumping that makes it more of a chore than a challenge to complete. It had spell parkour, yes! But so does Revenant. It does indeed have a maze... but the entire Dark Follower base, in a sense, is a maze. The only things that are intriguining are the underwater code and the dropper. Unfortunately, the dropper is either infuriating to those who cannot complete it, or boring to those who can - and in both cases proves to be repetitive. The underwater code is much the same: most new people won't be able to do it and those who already know the code have no need to give the puzzle a second glance. So do Dungeons offer a wider variety of puzzles than Revenant? Yes. But are they severely lacking in their replayability and fun? Also Yes. The fact is, Revenant offers a great range of tactics and playstyles to make it fun, while the Battle of Potterworld relies on the player only having played it once and also having extreme talent in droppers and being quick enough to solve the code.
What about storyline then? Well no... the dungeon unfortunately does not provide any more of a plot than Revenant does. Especially with the removal of all real people from the dungeon, the storyline is left somewhat confusing and irrelevant - especially to new players. While there is a lot of interaction between the NPCs (ONLY if you optionally choose to see it - which even most new players won't), there is no appeal to the reader who most likely has no clue what they are talking about. Revenant on the other hand is a mostly independent story with 3 compelling characters with a lot of lore that is accessible via only 3 videos on the Potterworld Youtube channel. There are even books dotted around the map to give extra plot and a cutscene at the end that (while still confusing - and I think it should be somewhat changed) leaves a bigger impact due to it being at the finale of what is undoubtedly a very hard battle.
Okay so if not gameplay, puzzles or storyline then maybe accessibility? Also no. One of the main differences between dungeons and gauntlets is that dungeons are aimed at lower levels. You would think that this would potentially make them more popular, as it means players from level 60+ can play, instead of levels 70+. However this is clearly flawed. There are a lot less players who fit in the level range from lvl 60 to lvl 70 than there are between lvl 70 and lvl 80; this means that there are much fewer players who the dungeon will actually be targeting, not to mention that said players will be constantly levelling up to the point where their gear makes any challenge redundant and they are able to play Revenant anyway. Even worse, the dungeon has a minimum playercount of 4, so with less players and less replayability than Revenant, the Battle of Potterworld just makes dungeons seem like gauntlets' nerdier and less popular cousin. Perhaps worst of all though is the complete obscurity that the dungeon has been placed under. How do you access it? Not through a quest... not through a simple command... not through a simple door or teleport... but instead through two unenticing NPCs without any direction or motive to click on.
The only thing that could save the dungeon from complete irrelevancy would be a grand and glorious prize. Sadly it no longer has one - and even if it did, it is doubtful it could rise to the same level as the ever-so-desired Lacerum Incisis.
TLDR and Conclusion: So with underwhelming gameplay, no meaningful prize, a lack of replayability, low accessibility, and a confusing storyline, the 5th Battle of Potterworld doesn't offer too much to the server, apart from further questions about the real difference between gauntlets and dungeons. The dungeon was good for an event and I definitely appreciate all the work and roleplay that went into it. But I do not believe it should be a permanent addition to the game - and if it is, then I think it requires major reworks: mostly to the accessibility, storyline, and reward (possibly incorporating it into a quest).
Thank you for reading!
Recently, the decision was made to make the 5th Battle of Potterworld Dungeon permanent to the game as a challenge for the level 60 range. While this is not a grave problem by any means, I do not believe it was the right thing to do. (Before you read, please note that I think that the dungeon was a great event temporarily and I thought it was a nice send-off to official roleplay so thank you to all the people who worked on it!)
Most people know by now that dungeons and gauntlets are two different things, but it has been put into question whether dungeons really offer enough change to be their own seperate entity. So what does the Battle of Potterworld offer that Revenant doesn't?
Gameplay? No. The gameplay in the dungeon is not really comparable to that of Revenant's. The dungeon is extremely easy to defeat, with bosses that have limited and rather unspectacular attacks. Unlike Revenant, you do not have to be constantly moving and paying attention to avoid being chucked into lava or stomped on by Zerxes, instead you just have to repeatedly cast spells at 4 different humans - none of which have quite the same pizzazz as the Enchantress, large Zexes, or even the late Yassmir. No tactics or teamwork is really needed and getting a team isn't about the skill of the players, but instead about whether they'll actually join or not.
What about puzzles then? Eh, maybe. The Dungeon is perhaps famous for its ludicrous amount of running and jumping that makes it more of a chore than a challenge to complete. It had spell parkour, yes! But so does Revenant. It does indeed have a maze... but the entire Dark Follower base, in a sense, is a maze. The only things that are intriguining are the underwater code and the dropper. Unfortunately, the dropper is either infuriating to those who cannot complete it, or boring to those who can - and in both cases proves to be repetitive. The underwater code is much the same: most new people won't be able to do it and those who already know the code have no need to give the puzzle a second glance. So do Dungeons offer a wider variety of puzzles than Revenant? Yes. But are they severely lacking in their replayability and fun? Also Yes. The fact is, Revenant offers a great range of tactics and playstyles to make it fun, while the Battle of Potterworld relies on the player only having played it once and also having extreme talent in droppers and being quick enough to solve the code.
What about storyline then? Well no... the dungeon unfortunately does not provide any more of a plot than Revenant does. Especially with the removal of all real people from the dungeon, the storyline is left somewhat confusing and irrelevant - especially to new players. While there is a lot of interaction between the NPCs (ONLY if you optionally choose to see it - which even most new players won't), there is no appeal to the reader who most likely has no clue what they are talking about. Revenant on the other hand is a mostly independent story with 3 compelling characters with a lot of lore that is accessible via only 3 videos on the Potterworld Youtube channel. There are even books dotted around the map to give extra plot and a cutscene at the end that (while still confusing - and I think it should be somewhat changed) leaves a bigger impact due to it being at the finale of what is undoubtedly a very hard battle.
Okay so if not gameplay, puzzles or storyline then maybe accessibility? Also no. One of the main differences between dungeons and gauntlets is that dungeons are aimed at lower levels. You would think that this would potentially make them more popular, as it means players from level 60+ can play, instead of levels 70+. However this is clearly flawed. There are a lot less players who fit in the level range from lvl 60 to lvl 70 than there are between lvl 70 and lvl 80; this means that there are much fewer players who the dungeon will actually be targeting, not to mention that said players will be constantly levelling up to the point where their gear makes any challenge redundant and they are able to play Revenant anyway. Even worse, the dungeon has a minimum playercount of 4, so with less players and less replayability than Revenant, the Battle of Potterworld just makes dungeons seem like gauntlets' nerdier and less popular cousin. Perhaps worst of all though is the complete obscurity that the dungeon has been placed under. How do you access it? Not through a quest... not through a simple command... not through a simple door or teleport... but instead through two unenticing NPCs without any direction or motive to click on.
The only thing that could save the dungeon from complete irrelevancy would be a grand and glorious prize. Sadly it no longer has one - and even if it did, it is doubtful it could rise to the same level as the ever-so-desired Lacerum Incisis.
TLDR and Conclusion: So with underwhelming gameplay, no meaningful prize, a lack of replayability, low accessibility, and a confusing storyline, the 5th Battle of Potterworld doesn't offer too much to the server, apart from further questions about the real difference between gauntlets and dungeons. The dungeon was good for an event and I definitely appreciate all the work and roleplay that went into it. But I do not believe it should be a permanent addition to the game - and if it is, then I think it requires major reworks: mostly to the accessibility, storyline, and reward (possibly incorporating it into a quest).
Thank you for reading!
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