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Gameplay poll- what system do you prefer?
nomadian
Member Posts: 3,490
Not very good poll as I've forgotten how a few mmorpgs have done it and no idea how EvE Online or SWG has done it, but it is something different from the usual posts.
Anyway, of systems you've played which have you perhaps favoured or enjoyed the most? Do you prefer set classes, so that if you want to play another class you play that from scratch? Do you prefer classes which you can switch your finite number of abilities for any number of builds? Do you prefer a multi-profession system like FFXI?
(the answer could be depends on the game as some are pvp biased and some pve biased, but anyway discuss)
Comments
I know that I will be in the minority here but I prefer set classes. I like games where if you want to heal you become a cleric, you want to tank you become a warrior and so forth. I also like the idea of race determining what you can be. But thats just me.
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Sandbox all the way.....
I dont like to be pigronholed in to one role or class. It takes away from the realism and roleplay in that everyone in a particular class is exactly the same. I want my character to be unique.
I think SWG had it right when it first launched. I could pick and choose the skills I wanted until my points were used up and later I could drop those skills and learn different ones. It made our characters dynamic and unique. Just because you had fought against a certain person and won a previous time didnt mean you would again since that player might be completely diferent the next time you face them.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
I like class systems, too, though, because I like archetypes. Characters with distinct and varied strengths and weaknesses, such as the fragile glass cannon mage, but skill systems can ruin that.
So, I'd really vote for a skill system, in which skills have balancing limitations - for example, a skill like "fire magic," a ranged high damage skill, takes a big penalty if the character chooses to wear armor, or wield a heavy weapon. Put interdependant limitations like that on every skill, and balance that so players would have the flexibility of a skill system, to choose extremes, moderation, or whatever, yet still be encouraged to roughly stick archetypes.
Could also take that a step further by making skills very dependant on stats, so a mage has to dump everything into intelligence and willpower to be the best mage, while a warrior needs to sacrifice those stats to dump everything into strength, and constitution to be the best meatshield. Yet, one might be able to divide the points to be a so-so warrior and a mediocre mage, for a sort of hybrid.
All skill based, but with results very much like class systems.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Eve got it right for me as there were no set classes at all you could be any profession and class you wanted to be and later you could change you mind as many times as you want as you can learn any skill in game just buy the skill and learn it to the level you want. And ther is no skill caps at all.
In other words its a sandbox system.
The best compromise between freedom of choosing skill branches and choosing a class would be the second choice;
having a limited number of starting classes that take u in a general certain direction of combat, but with a specialized choice later on!!
this imho makes it even better, as it makes it possible to change subclasses without having to rebuild your entire character.
I think the talent system in WOW doesn't allow enough differentiation (atleast for me), it used to be good for certain classes but for others u don't get the ability to go completely in one direction of combat.
To be honest, class systems or skill systems, doesn't really bother me one way or the other.
The only thing I'd prefer, with respect to sandboxy systems, is that crafting skills and combat skills should be in seperate pools/slots/sets... Whatever. Killing goblins (or in the case of Anarchy Online, probably Hecklers or Cyborgs) to be better at some crafting skill always seems silly to me. So does being gimpy because you have some crafting skills and some combat skills.
I like the sandbox method too. Gives a player open opportunity to develop their toon in any direction they see fit.
I like them all.
Ask me to choose between my dad or my mom? Ask my neighbor to choose between his son or daughter?
Loaded question.
I would spend more time with a class-system, especially as in EQ2 (if not for the raiding and guild stuff), but it was displayed as unpopular. Anyway, I like them all. Levels, skills, whatever, the more the better!
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i have to say that i love how runescape is set up with the various skills and you just level whatever you feel like leveling
is UO the same way? becuase i never played it (just wondering)
I like them all but find set classes is most conducive to teamwork.
Everybody knows their roles, teams are not dynamic without a healthy combination of players. It is instinctive to see what skills are missing from the team, and easy to spot the kind of player who possesses them.
Perfect for teambuilding.
I loved how you could set a skill to go down (which then enabled another to go up if you so desired) if you were maxed out on skill points.
UO system is absolutely the best imo. Who would complain about a system where you choose exactly how your character is. Main factor to make this work is make sure all / most of the skills are relatively balanced. But this system actually works even if the skills are not balanced. Because you get to choose your skills all the time. If you think something is more powerful then another then pick it. Cant really complain if you can choose the "elite" skill just like everyone else at any time.
I absolutely loved tweaking my build all the time in UO. Everytime there was a patch changing one skill or another, I could change mine to relect the new updates. In WoW if they completely changed the playstyle or spec line of your class, you were basically screwed. Only thing you could do is reroll.
I wonder if by having set classes mmorpgs can keep people playing longer, since people would have to reroll if they wanted another class and having to invest more time.
Everyone picks such similar skills, because of the drastically diminishing returns. Always better to spread points around to almost everything than to specialize in anything. One person might have a 4 in this, and a 3 in that, while another would have 3 in this, and 4 in that, but seemed just about the same to me.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Stronglly disagree with that. UO kept me a very long time and has the best retention rate of any game. Mainly because in a game like WoW if you have to reroll, then you have to completely gear out your toon also, because items are Binded to it. Therefore people like me even if I am just bored of my toon, would rather quit then make another toon. In wow I had some crazy number like 70+ days played on my guy. I sure as hell wasnt going to spend that amount of time on another toon just to get it competitive.
In UO, you could change your skills relatively easy, therefore its really not a problem to try out every type of character in the game. It might take a few years to do it. But at least you can get your toon at end game within a few month and enjoy it for a few more before getting bored. So therefore because you are constantly tweaking your guy, it seems to slow down the boredom.
In UO most players had characters with just about every single skill, just so they could maximize thier ability to play. No way that would happen in WoW.
In theory, I prefer an à la carte skill system, but in practice, I find myself enjoying class systems more. There are two reasons for this: first, I'm naturally an indecisive person. I end up endlessly tweaking characters with different skill combinations and never getting to the actual game. The second problem is that very few skill-based systems are truely balanced. There end up being very few viable skill combinations, resulting in a lack of choices in character creation. What's worse, these combos are rarely thematically in sync, resulting in immersion breaking characters like UO's halberd-weilding mages (for a historical example).
Yes I played UO almost from the start, and I like the set class system better. I started out in PNP D&D and like that way better.
However I see the trend of letting anyone be anything. It sounds good but it takes the charm out of a game for me.
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