I’ve been thinking about how the MMORPG genre has evolved lately in regards to alternate characters and level pacing. The era of “one maxed character” has long since passed and now developers make it easier for players to start over and play something different. I’m not against that notion in the least actually. I firmly believe that once you reach end game on one character you should get a bump on the next and then again on the next. It should be a reward. This can obviously scale by how hard the game is. Given that fact, I really have to ask what is the big deal with class changing?
Everyone would probably agree now that the major MMO players are all about you finding more value in their game by playing through it a second, third, or forth time. They expect the average player to reach the cap and participate in the end game. Additional entertainment is not just found by doing “end game” content. It is found by going back and reliving the parts of the game you liked or taking a different path to reach the end once more. This change also offers you the chance to play something different that might feel foreign in comparison to your previous style. We all accept this so I have to ask again, why does the idea of class change scare us?
When it comes to rolling a new character there is something I detest. I hate coming up with a name. I have one name for males and one for females and that is what I like to use. I want to be Ferrel, period. I don’t want to explain to my friends that if they don’t see me on to check alt X, Y, and Z. I don’t want to guild twelve additional sub-level 40 characters and make notes on who belongs to who. All of that adds complexity that I just don’t think is necessary. It also allows players to hide from their reputation and troll others. I truly believe in one name per player.
Global Agenda ensures that no matter what character you create you’re going to have the same name. In an interview with Todd Harris that Karen and I conducted he basically said they did this to make reputations more important. I applaud that. Why don’t other games offer a similar situation?
Runes of Magic and Final Fantasy XI allow you to switch classes and start working a new one up from scratch on the same character. There are some bonuses to this that make the going a little less difficult and, more importantly, you get to stay on the same character. There are no more characters necessary and I think that is wonderful. The technology is there but it is rarely utilized by big budget MMOs.
Finally you have to look at the idea that sends many players into shock: straight character class exchanges. This seems to upset a lot of people any time it is mentioned and I’m not entirely sure why. It seems very risky to dump everything you know, pay a fee, and switch to a class you may have only collected basic gear for. As a guild leader I would hope a member would check with me first before doing it but otherwise I don’t see the problem. Why are we so adverse to this? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts!
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Free Realms. Your character is all the classes, just never more than one at a time. Switch and level as you see fit.
Good point! I had forgotten about that.
Final Fantasy XI Online, D&D Online, Dream of Mirror Online and I’m sure dozens of other MMOs allow class changing. I’m not sure this is as big a deal as you think. In WoW, people can change their specs at will, essentially changing their class (within bounds). Consider the WoW druid, who can be tank, healer, melee dps or caster dps — and this is the #1 MMO on the planet. Forthcoming MMOs DC Universe Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic allow similar on-the-fly role changes, and the original Star Wars Galaxies had class changing as an essential part of gameplay.
Perhaps this is mostly an EQ issue?
I’m not sure I agree with WoW as an example. Changing your role isn’t exactly changing your class. Switching from a tanking warrior to a damage build isn’t exactly the same as going from a priest to a paladin. It does make it a little easier but you still end up with a lot of alts with a lot of different names.
Do you mean the Shadow Priest, or the Healodin?
At the end of the day, a healing-spec priest has much more in common with a healodin palidan than a shadow priest has in common with healing-spec priest. WoW is definitely one of those games where roles are more important and defining than classes.
Oops, you mentioned FFXI
Sorry! -5 to reading comprehension.
Cryptic’s MMOs (CO, STO) and Guild Wars identify players via handle. In GW all alts are also in the same guild automatically.
Regarding class switching: Instinctively I am against that, but my stance has been wavering for quite a while. Classes that can serve all three roles of the trinity are absolutely en-vogue in WoW, even more so since dual specs arrived. This is already some kind of class change.
But what if a fragile caster suddenly comes back from city dual wielding two giant-sized two-handed hammers? Instinctively I am about to cry: “No, you can’T do that because…” and then I really have to wonder why I am opposed to it.
I did it in Ultima Online. My main char was swordsman, fencer, bard, lumberjack/axeman, fencer…
This game had no classes, only skills/attributes/abilities. And well, I always had to start training new abilities from scratch.
So I must say, I am rather for systems that allow “class” changes. But I have doubts they work out too well in the contemporary EQ/WoW mold of MMOs. You already mentioned the gear thing, but this could be overcome through buying new basic gear. Still, it would work much better if gear in general would be less class specific and rather role specific. I.e. Warriors could make use of weapons, but mages would rather want free hands for casting.
Then there are also things like class quests and certain flightpaths (Moonglade for Druids e.g.). I think there are some problems for sure, but they could be overcome.
I think it is just not wanted from the developers. They rather want us to play and pay one more month, to level the new char. But I could see free class change as part of the design in the form of “pick your abilities” like in Ultima Online in future MMOs.
We’re talking “class change” not “change class”. I think a lot of people have put a lot of time and effort into learning how to “play their class”, sometimes to the point where they play by rote rather then by making conscious decisions.
If class mechanics change, that’s back to square one for the SAME class that these people have put their time into “mastering”. All their “hard work” has been rendered useless, essentially. Some may even consider this a punishment for…some reason.
I’ve always wanted someone to do a MechWarrior MMO that would end up being sort of like EVE in that your character learned skills that allowed them to pilot certain mechs and use certain armors and weapons and other devices, but what really matters is the build that they leave the garage with. You have the potential to be any “class”, to fill any role, but you have to plan ahead and leave the garage built out for how you want to play.
Except for it breaking with tradition, I don’t see any reason a fantasy MMO can’t be constructed in the same manner. Give players an underlying base of skills that allow them to equip gear, but the real game play elements (spells, attacks, defensive moves, etc) are an aspect of the gear not the character.
I’ve always referred to this style of design as “You are what you wear.”
And while I mentioned EVE before, I dislike EVE in that nothing I do in the game can increase my character’s skills. Only training time does that, and I find that infuriating. I can’t say, “I’m going to grind out X skill on Saturday.” Instead, I’m stuck with, “X skill will be finished in three weeks, I’ll be back then…”
I’m shocked that there isn’t a Mech Warrior MMO yet or at least something that basically steals it.
That said, I like your idea a lot. I believe Final Fantasy XIV will use a system like that correct? Your class barely means anything in comparison to the weapon you use?
Yes, Eve being so passive turned me off. It was better NOT to play than to play.
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/smith-and-tinker-acquires-fasa-ips.php
Well how about that!
I so want that to happen. I wish them lots of luck and hope they don’t screw it up.
One reason why class change seems like a heresy might come from the past. In D&D, it was assumed that your level 1 character trained a long time in order to get to the point that you were even capable of being considered first level. Most “commoners” were level 0 and significantly weaker than you were. Training your level in 1st edition AD&D was supposed to take 1-4 weeks. Training in a profession was supposed to be a long and arduous task, so setting it aside lightly seems wrong. Not that this applies anymore, but I think that might be one reason some old-timers don’t like it.
Personally, I prefer skill-based systems. Lots of flexibility. Harder to balance, sure, but that’s what you get a good designer for.
The other thing that has changed over time has been the diminished use of the leveling game to teach group mechanics. If you imagine that everyone with a level 20 character got there entirely by group content, allowing class switches would mean that there would suddenly be level 20′s with no idea how to play their new class. Ironically, nowadays everyone who doesn’t go out of their ways to look for groups arrives at the level cap lacking group experience, so allowing straight-up class swaps wouldn’t be as damaging.
That said, I took advantage of the EQ2 expansion beta to roll up some premades to audition potential alts, and I’d guesstimate that I sunk about an hour into each character just reading tooltips and setting up hotbars before I could even try to guess how to play them. Even solo play has a certain degree of level curve if you’re jumping in late enough in the game.
I really like the Global Agenda “one name for all my toons” setup.
Might be a tad tangential to where this discussion is atm, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that solution.