I've really got the urge to elaborate more on how little I enjoy playing Spiral Knights when I look at all the open gates and see nothing but clockwork tunnels (with a few exceptions of treasure vaults and a very few levels i've already played)
With the increase in difficulty level it's apparent that I can't adventure below Emberlight with the equipment I have now so the composition of those levels is irrelevant. The composition of levels between Haven and Moorcroft is also moot since they don't give enough heat/crowns to be worth the time it takes to go through them (and I kill most everything in a few hits, which is boring), so I'm going to focus on what's available right now from Moorcroft:
Among the 3 open gates right now from Moorcroft, I have the following options to adventure through:
* Coral Rook: 11 clockwork tunnels, 5 treasure vaults, 2 wolvers dens
While Wolvers Den is attractive, both of them are in the bottom set of four layers, and there's no guarantee I'll actually reach them even then due to all the junk dungeons on the same level.
* Diamond Falcon: Shrine of Slumber 1 and 2! Both pretty good levels! :D
Followed immediately by a mix of five clockwork tunnels and a treasure vault. :( I would personally do the first level then quit back to Moorcroft.
* Onyx King looks the best of the currently-open gates since it's got Jade Tangle 1/2, a Wolvers Den, AND four Concrete Jungle levels!
The three GUARANTEED haunted/overgrown passages between the Jade Tangle and Concrete Jungle levels are a pretty huge turnoff, though.
Clockwork tunnels in any capacity are a CHORE to complete since the puzzles are no longer interesting or engaging but merely repetitive. Not in weeks have I seen even one section of one of these levels that was even unfamiliar.
Treasure Vaults are frankly a huge waste of time and gate space since they don't actually offer up any content or action, just a boring walk through a grassy field opening treasure boxes that contain mostly pickups I have no immediate use for (double aggravation when a treasure vault is the last level before a terminal or sub-town).
While there are a few unique levels that I've enjoyed, they're unfortunately rare and far between, giving me no option except to grind through a slog of more clockwork tunnels to reach them.
I have no impetus to blaze through levels I don't enjoy because there's no reward for evading enemies and completing a level in a hurry; I must suffer through fighting the same bland dust zombies in the same bland haunted passage to receive any crowns/heat/items/etc.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, either:
* Modify the gate-creation algorithm to favor interesting levels (did you know I've only even been in TWO spiral court levels? I know there's more than that and I haven't seen them recently besides)
OR
* Expand the library of possible Clockwork Tunnels chunks and monsters by probably an order of magnitude to keep them fresh for more than three levels
PS imo 3 gates is not enough
+1
CTs need more themes as well as more chunk variety.