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EverQuest Next: All Races Can Play All Classes
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Despite 40% of Round Table respondents indicating that they would prefer some class restrictions based on race, the EverQuest Next developers have opted not to limit races from playable classes. To explain their reasons for the decision, the team has released a video. Check it out and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.
Comments
i like the choice
- i never liked that races like gnomes couldn't be monks in EQ1
- leaves more room for roleplay
EQ2 fan sites
Best of Show tho right.. despite 40% of EQ fan-base being brushed aside ever since the reveal.
/waiting on Brad.. again.
This is not a game breaker issue. For RP purposes having class-race restrictions is good. Not many players really RP in EQ worlds. If your race can't play a certain class then there is always a re-roll. It is fun to go BACK and play a new class and it means more players for the early levels of the game. I have no idea what design strategies this team has in place. My experience with SOE games is that what ever it is now they will change it later and it will have negative impact on the players. Therefore, speaking only for myself, I want to know they have a fun world for me to play in. EQ2 world is anything but fun. The zones were too small, the designs of the landscape too auto-generated, the whole feel was too cutsie and contrived. I never tried WOW because it felt like a huge cartoon. EQ1 gameplay isn't up to par, but at least the world still has an immersion factor.
The logic and reasoning for not having the restrictions makes total sense.
With so many classes in the game, it will be very difficult to be able to figure out what your character is going to be like.
In the end, I do not think this will be too much of an issue. I highly doubt that everyone that wants to be a wizard would roll as Ogres and Trolls and such. It would be a rare sight to see, slightly amusing, but rare.
40% I'd like to see certain races restricted to certain classes based on lore
17% It adds interest and replayability if some races can't play some classes
It's really a majority that would prefer restrictions not just plurality ...
Makes me wonder if ninjas that were voted down will be in game or not. Roundtable seems to be cosmetic really.
race restrictions and class restrictions are not the same thing
http://slashlfg.wordpress.com/tag/everquest-next-landmark/
Class progress can be limited by choice – a player cannot pursue Paladin and Shadow Knights paths, for instance.
EQ2 fan sites
They can still do this in a logical way
As someone else said, an Elf is standard magic but a dwarf is not
But, you can still allow a dwarf to use magic, if you change the way he/she uses that magic
For example, dwarves could use runes and other arifacts, that are essentially the same as Elf arcane magic
This will allow all races access to all the same things, but in a logical way, and also adds some diversity in the way magic is used
The same examples can be used for Gnome fighters or paladins, just change the way gnomes fight, give them weapons that make sense for gnomes
"We don't want players to be forced to make a decision they would regret based on knowledge they didn't have."
I strongly disagree with the general premise of this statement. There should be meaningful choices throughout the game. From character creation to high level character design. I can live with no race/class restrictions, but if the over arching design of EQN is to never put players in a position of making tough lasting choices, I will be sorely disappointed.
edit- sound reasoning behind the decision. Why even put it to a vote? hmmm...
Boycotting EA. Why? They suck, even moreso since 2008.
well said! Agree! The problem I'm seeing with the development of this game is they are going down the primrose-path of WoW-ifying everything, trying to make the whole thing super-EZ-mode... WIthout decisions, without risks and rewards it'll be boring and uninteresting. I'm betting we'll learn there are no death penalties (or something like Rift where they are so little as to be basically just nothing) either. Not saying death should be a cataclysmic ordeal, but it has to have some kind of real bite or it just doesn't matter, and then where's the excitement?
I hope that will prove to be true, and they don't go back and continue the trend of WoW-ifying, making everything super-EZ-mode. I have significant doubts.... Getting the feeling it's more console-based thinking, everything "action" arcade rather then true MMO with any depth, any thinking required. Just waiting for the announcement that there's no death penalties (or something like Rift where they are so little as to be basically just nothing) either. Not saying death should be a cataclysmic ordeal, but it has to have some kind of real bite or it just doesn't matter, and then where's the excitement?
I hope their system is more similar to Everquest 2. Race/Class combo's are determined by your alignment. If you want to be a shaman you actually have two classes to choose from, the more melee focused Mystic and the more caster focused Defiler, same goes with Shadowknight, Paladin, Necromancer and Warlock. If you start the game and decide to be a Mystic, but you want to be an Ogre, you can't. Ogres are evil and cannot play the Good/Neutral Mystic class, but they can play the defiler while races such as Dwarf, Halflings and High Elves cannot.
I hope they go with a system similar to this, but how they have said they have the class unlocks during the game, it's really anyone's guess what the hell actually happens.
Even though I am eagerly waiting EQNext, I do have to wonder, if they are going to post a poll and then Veto the results, why have them in the first place? Is it to allow players to 'feel' like the game world is actually theirs? Because they just proved that isn't true.
I definitely like this choice. I am a single character player. I very very rarely create a second toon. It is my Identity. I am SGTalon in the game, not SGTalin, or SGTalon2 or anything like that.
The fact that my initial race choice means that i can play all classes just means that i can have more longevity with my single character.
I am not saying that I won't decide to create a gnome or Iksar somewhere down the road but I think that this could really add to the role playing and immersion side of the game.
I mean honestly, as a human in real life, i can change my skills and profession any time i want. I just have to go get trained. If i want to learn Kung Fu, i go to a Kung Fu place. If i want to become a healer, i go to medical school. The more we can get a game to mimic logical real life choices the better chance we have of this becoming a genre changing game.
Not sure about the gimmick thing. Maybe. But you shouldn't design games by majority rule. Developer vision should indeed trump that. It needs to be informed developer vision: You'd better have a feel for what's prefered. But you need to do what's best for the game, and prospective players don't always have that. Something that's cool to have in a game may not be worth the effort to produce and support.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.