Dungeons have been a hot topic for Black Desert since it's early access days. Many players believe that dungeons should be included as it increases playability and content variety across the game. Many other players believe that introducing instanced dungeon content can remove the open world integrity that Black Desert was built on. However, I believe there is a good solution that can keep the intregrity of Black Desert's open world, and fulfill the wishes of players that desire PvE dungeons. 

          Leveling my character on the Winter Season server through the game's Main Story quest, I noticed a pattern in how the developers decided to introduce more difficult mob encounters- one could even call them "mini-bosses". This was done through a scroll that was placed in a character's inventory, and used to summon a MOB AI that would only focus on the player that summoned him/her. It did not recognize nor acknowledge any other player in the area, only the one that casted the summon. In most cases I noticed that I was unable to see a player or that player's summoned mob if I too summoned a mob in that same area. We both grew invisible to eachother. 

So let's quickly recap how summoning scrolls currently work in BDO:

1. Placed into a Player's Inventory

2. Summoned by a Player

3. The mob(s) summoned only attack the player which summoned them. 

4. Other players are unable to see you during the fight with the summoned mob(s) if they are in the same area. You are unable to see other players during their fight with the summoned mob(s) if you are in their same area.  

          Now that we have gone over currently existing content in Black Desert, we can move forward into my suggestion for future content. The developers can take this same format of content (summoning scrolls), and replicate it into a much more grand and versatile format. A format which stills plays a role entirely dependant on the open world of Black Desert. One that even expands and adds further depth to the open world for the non-dungeon fighter. 

Dungeon Summoning Scrolls. 

          Players are given access to a scroll (how this be obtained is up to the developers), and are asked to form a party of 2-5. In this hypothetical scenario, the developers have already designed a dungeon. It is an area that is freely open and accesssible regardless of a scroll. It is in fact, apart of the actual open world of Black Desert. Whether it be designed underground, above ground, or even in or on the ocean or Island. 

          However, there is nothing for players to fight in these areas. That is until all party members meet at the designated summoning location (the entrance). Once the party leader summons the mobs with his scroll, the entire area (dungeon) will fill with mobs in their predetermined areas. Players have to explore the area and complete the dungeon, to get to the boss. Thus their dungeon has commenced. A dungeon filled with enemies which only exists thanks to the party members brave enough to summon them. 

Following the same rules that current summoning scrolls in the game follow: 

1. Dungeon Summoning Scroll is placed into a player inventory. (Daily quest, weekly quest, a special drop, a bought item, etc...) 

2. The scroll is activated/summoned by a player (party leader - SHOULD BE ENCORAGING OF 2-5 PLAYERS)

3. The mob(s) summoned only attack the players which summoned them. 

4. Other players are unable to see you during the fight with the summoned mob(s) if they are in the same area. You are unable to see other players during their fight with the summoned mob(s) if you are in their same area.  

         With this format of dungeon content, not only is the intregrity of Black Desert's open world held, but the possibility and variety of content is greatly expanded. Travelers are given more areas to explore to find hidden details and lore. Fighters are given greater content and must seek the help of their friends to defeat tough opponents. Furthermore, the world and story of Black Desert grows.  

+1

Lovely presentation and an awesome idea! :) I'm not sure if the scroll implementation would work as smoothly on a larger scale like this, but I absolutely agree with you that this is a great solution for preserving the integrity of the open world.

And with an idea like this, can we then consider simply turning pre-existing areas into scroll dungeons? I know most of the boss summoning locations take place where there are no other mobs, so I'm assuming 'hiding' mobs might not be possible here, but if a party could just walk up to any area of the game and summon a temporary private instance of mobs, then it would eliminate the need to spend resources on designing and implementing new dungeons entirely.

It might even fit nicely into the lore. We have things like memory fragments, why not 'memory scrolls?' Players could walk up to an area, use a memory scroll, and essentially summon another point in time to play through a part of history that took place in that location. Opens up limitless possibilities for story-telling and making underutilized areas of the map meaningful again.

+1

Great presentation and ground-up follow through. 

For particular areas of the game that are otherwise unused, this is an excellent idea to fill out the edges of the map and bring them to LIFE.

Kudos. Kudos. Kudos. 

I absolutely agree with the both of you! There is so much land in this game that can be utilized as dungeon territory. Especially all the little islands. The developers can also work with depth and even start to build more below and above ground, without having to take up more ocean space.