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BrettH · 02-06-2006, 02:28 PM

There are pros and cons to all game elements and systems, as I'm sure everyone here has realized long ago.

The trick is not trying to decide "What is Right and what is Wrong" but "What brings the good results that we want, and the bad results that we can deal with."

This, of course, is only determined by the overall design and goals of the game, which is why all games are different.

I think most of the good and bad points of classes and classless systems have been hashed over in this thread and I don't need to repeat them.

My main dislike for class-based games is because they tend to lead toward a certain scenario that I refer to as the Guild Arms Race.

Because people have chosen a guild/class/whathaveyou for their character, and cannot change it, they become insanely possessive of that class. They jealously guard anything that they think should be unique to that class, watch the other classes and rant when they become 'better than mine', berate any staff that is assigned to their class to 'give us more stuff so we can compete against the other classes' and so forth.

The staff, in response to this endless pressure, quarrel over dividing up every new thing that could possibly be given to a class to satisfy their development needs. This ultimately results in things that should be universal being parceled out to classes because it is too darned hard to keep coming up with reasonable restricted abilities.

After enough time in this scenario, you'll find that only empaths can boil an egg, and only warriors are allowed to keep sheep. Not for any real reason, mind you, but because players will always demand development for their class.

With a classless system, everyone has more than one skill and they have had more flexibility to choose them; possibly even the ability to forget some and learn new ones. Players may want certain skills to do more, but it isn't as critical because of the mixing and matching players have done, and the fact that they have many skills versus only one class to focus upon.

Just one more pro/con situation to consider.

---Brett

02-06-2006, 02:28 PM	#111
BrettH Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 52	There are pros and cons to all game elements and systems, as I'm sure everyone here has realized long ago. The trick is not trying to decide "What is Right and what is Wrong" but "What brings the good results that we want, and the bad results that we can deal with." This, of course, is only determined by the overall design and goals of the game, which is why all games are different. I think most of the good and bad points of classes and classless systems have been hashed over in this thread and I don't need to repeat them. My main dislike for class-based games is because they tend to lead toward a certain scenario that I refer to as the Guild Arms Race. Because people have chosen a guild/class/whathaveyou for their character, and cannot change it, they become insanely possessive of that class. They jealously guard anything that they think should be unique to that class, watch the other classes and rant when they become 'better than mine', berate any staff that is assigned to their class to 'give us more stuff so we can compete against the other classes' and so forth. The staff, in response to this endless pressure, quarrel over dividing up every new thing that could possibly be given to a class to satisfy their development needs. This ultimately results in things that should be universal being parceled out to classes because it is too darned hard to keep coming up with reasonable restricted abilities. After enough time in this scenario, you'll find that only empaths can boil an egg, and only warriors are allowed to keep sheep. Not for any real reason, mind you, but because players will always demand development for their class. With a classless system, everyone has more than one skill and they have had more flexibility to choose them; possibly even the ability to forget some and learn new ones. Players may want certain skills to do more, but it isn't as critical because of the mixing and matching players have done, and the fact that they have many skills versus only one class to focus upon. Just one more pro/con situation to consider. ---Brett