Posted by Imprint

The Hera hearts on their own probably wouldn't supply a sense of progression even if they were required to complete higher difficulty quest areas. There would be no incentive to get to these more difficult dungeons if the only reward was the opportunity to try a more difficult dungeon. The idea would probable strike with a few players, but the majority wouldn't be inspired by hearts which do nothing outside of PvE. It doesn't affect the group which towers, the group which spars, nor the group who PK. Therefore, to give a sense of reward and progression there would need to be item rewards or some other gift at the end of each dungeon.
So, if there needs to be a reward at the end of each dungeon anyway, it leaves the Hera Hearts idea, while interesting, comepletely redundant and less interesting than alternative options to open paths to dungeons. It's a lot cooler to give a player diving gear and have them dive to find the entrance to the next dungeon than require them to have 4 hearts total to enter. Then, not only does the player get a tool which can be used to enter the dungeon, but it also can be used to find secrets with similar entrances in the main world. Ex: Rat, Scuba Gear.