So essentially, slowing down the game, INCREASING rewards (or potential rewards you don't needs something 100% of the time) you can increase downtime. If you fight for 4-5 minutes and get something decent, or have the potential for something really good, you don't mind a 2-3 minute slow down period afterwards.
Yes, exactly. Rewards, downtime, combat--all need to be problems to solve in a game. And the actual combat itself, and the downtime, should be part of that puzzle, not merely a check list. Assuming a risk, getting more downtime, these should all be problems that integrate into the reward structure. (And the problems should change based on class/group variables).
In the video below they talk about how good Stealth Games need to
designtheir down time, to make the down time part of the experience and not just a penalty (But, as you said, a choice that can be made). There is also a little bit on the end about the difference between the "power fantasy" that most games employ, and the "stealth fantasy". The key difference is power fantasy is about being stronger than everyone, and decimating all that lay before you. While Stealth is about being generally weaker, and still overcoming the odds by solving puzzles and out smarting your opponents. (Kind of like in EQ, mobs were stronger, so we figured out a bunch of ways to overcome them--like kiting or even pulling.)
I think you can see, from the video, that a lot of those "Stealth vs Power" design correlations can be made in MMO's. Everything in current MMO's is now a power fantasy (Even stealth is just a way to add to your eventual power), and you're right, it leads to destroying the content as fast as possible to get your next reward outside the content, it forces a pacing mechanic outside of combat that makes combat more of a chore to get through. If we could add a little bit of that stealth fantasy back into MMO's, you could make the concept of downtime and risk within the dungeon/combat itself engaging.
Anyway, here is the video. Yeah, I know it's not about MMO's, but I think it's a great video to watch for anyone designing a "
world" and not just a "combat game". In "worlds", you need to make it so there are places the player has to make decisions beyond just "how best to smash this? Should I smash with AE? Or Single target smashing? How best to smash fast?" Bringing back that strategic element to games, making downtime a part of the the decision making and puzzle process? These are all things MMO designers should think about. And as this guy says, it's tough because most game designers simply do not think like that, they've be trained to get back to the power fantasy asap.