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What makes a class in an mmo feel right?
Amathe
Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
By that I mean, do you feel like a mage when you play your mage? Do you feel like a warrior when you play your warrior?
My first mmo character was a ranger, and I have to say the game did a great job of letting me feel ranger-like. I snuck around in the woods using my abilities, and I could tell I was different than the classes who lacked my character's skill set.
Some games do this better than others. Even the games that do it right sometimes drop the ball on a few of the classes.
How about you? How is the game you are playing doing at making your class seem like what it is supposed to be?
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Comments
I'm not currently playing an MMO since I am an inmature 16 year old kid who thinks he can do much better games
I don't feel nothing really now that you mention it. If I were a ranger or scout, I didn't feel sneaky at all due to the interface filled with colorful skills and the lack of stealth of ways to hide myself from other players.
If I would want to be a warrior, I'd want the interface, the enviroment and my abilities to reflect that feeling through the hiding and minimizing of the interface and the way my character pushes, knocks down and destroys what surrounds him.
I also hated how when I am a stealth character, the most stealth they would give you is a skill that makes you invisible or something like that, they wouldn't give me trees, bushes or rocks to hide behind off and spy on people, they wouldn't hide the name tag that is above my character (A dead giveaway to the enemy of your position), I never felt like the role the class was given at all.
Im on of those players that has alot of trouble getting immersed into an MMO. Maybe because I have RL obligations that require me to be alert 24/7 (have a 3 year old) and never really really get "into it" But out of all the classes, the one I can relate to most is a ranger, I have RL skills in bow and arrows, maybe that's why.
Me in 2002, is that you?
Context: No Warriors with battle axes and shields in Star Wars.
Role: Is this class useful? Can it stay competitive in groups?
Synergy: Does this class fit with other classes?
Difficulty: No one wants to play a one-click wonder (unless you're AMAZING and want to 1337 pwn all noobs and baddies because they're bad and suck), but no one wants to solve a jigsaw puzzle to play the class either.
I'm tired and have to piss, so this is all I contribute for now.
He who keeps his cool best wins.
I depends from game to game i think
Some MMORPG claas system really isn't great bt others you feel like yeah!! i am warior or something else:)
The class system is of course very important no good class system no good MMORPG
Greetz
Thats simple.
- Uniqueness of gameplay, complexity of class, easy to start but hard to master
- Strong points and archilles heels compared to other classes, but overall balanced toward everybody else
- Important easy "can kill them early" and important desastrous "cant kill them alone or only if much lower level" opponents
- Prominent task in a group, ability to work together with others
- Ideally also customizeability, you can be even more unique than only by your class and race
Effect on gameplay and gameworld.
I felt most like my class when i had no class - SWG and EVE. SWG i felt like a regular dude living in the world, which is what my class was. EVE i felt like a lowly pilot scraping by in a big universe.
From games with actual classes, HoX in AoC is one of my favourites. I truly felt like i was channeling dark power and rage in combat. Nothing like pulling out a guy's beating heart and taking a bite.
CoV had a Stalker (i think that's what it was called) class that was based around doing massive stealth damage, it made my gameplay really revolve around actually stalking boss targets, so that was cool.
AO i played a Fixer and fixers were awesome at blizting missions to obtain things quickly and they had acccess to a special travel network, so it did make me feel like i can make things happen.
My main game these days is EQ2 (6 years) and i have zero relation to the classes I play. My main is a Defiler, which is supposed to subjugate the spirits of the dead to channel their power, but really, i cast heals, wards and debuffs. I don't feel like i'm subjugating anything or communicating with any spirits. Even if my spells have this stuff as their descriptions. But EQ2 in general has terrible lore and immersion, few of the classes feel connected to their gameplay.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
You mean is that me in 2004? is that you? (older though)
I am glad you ask that because class design is one of my favorites. What makes a class feel right? There are number of factors that must be considered to get this immersion down.
1. What is the class and what archetype does it fil?
1a. What role does the class fill within the archetype...secondary roles apply here.
2. Stay consistent and true to the vision of the class.
2a. The class must be unique in their core aspect. This negates the same as in their archetype only.
3. That unique aspect must be molded into game mechanics that only fit that class. For an example: What's really different than a shaman and a druid? You could go the two healing archetypes or one class can be a healer and the other a dps in some current games. But lets stay true to the origin of each class and say they are going to be healers. To me, a shaman is a healer who uses visions to communicate to the animal spirit world in which uses them for buffs. To me, a druid is a ritualistic caster who worships nature. Both classes use nature but use them in different ways. If the druid and shaman is designed and has their own feel by their own class mechanics, that is a major away to give that unique satisfiying feel.
4. Naming convention of spells/abilities.
5. Possible default professions.
*Will add more on next break perhaps.*
The utmost important aspect would be:
Sense of purpose
I rest my case:) haha
Greetz
When I can take on group content with my class solo. Like the disciple in Vanguard
. That class feels "right"