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Ask Massively: Career day edition
As you read this, depending on the time this goes live, I will either be knee-deep in a Career Day presentation or be coming down off the high of getting to talk about my job to a bunch of middle-school children. I'm writing this before I'll know whether it went well or not, but I'm hopeful. Truth be told, I have exactly the sort of job now that I would have loved to hear about when I was a young boy, so I'm expecting this will be pretty fun. Plus I'll be having school lunch again for the first time since my high school graduation. That's got to be worth a few points on the nostalgia-o-matic, right? This week's Ask Massively is thus an honorary career day edition, as we tackle questions about careers, classes, and professions throughout the wide world of gaming. On deck this week are questions about Guild Wars and doing things you oughtn't with classes, World of Warcraft's lockstep class system, and the range of flexibility in Star Wars: The Old Republic. As always, you can send off your own questions to ask@massively.com or leave them in the comment field for next week's column.
The Daily Grind: Are classes played out?
Our recent post about Fallen Earth makes mention of the fact that in the game, there will be no traditional class structures -- players can allocate points wherever they like. They're not locked into a setup where they only have access to a particular pool. And that got us thinking: is it time for the class system to move on?Think about it. Even the real life military, with all its roles, functions, and chains of command, appreciates a soldier with a diverse skillset. And really, does it make sense that just because you're, say, a Hunter, that it's impossible for you to carry a shield? Having an open system means that one could truly customize their character, and not feel like just one more in the herd. But maybe having definable classes is the best way to determine a player's function during a raid? What are the good reasons to keep offering the class structure?
MMOGology: A touch of class
With all the Age of Conan news hitting the press lately, the Conan hype machine has finally caught me in its greasy, barbaric cogs. With a visceral, action-based combat system, player-city building and mounted combat, it looks like Age of Conan is doing enough unique and exciting things to make it stand out from your typical World of Warcraft clones. As the May release date draws closer, I've been scouring the Web for more detailed information about the game.Any time I get excited about a new MMOG one of the first things I check out is the list of classes on the developer's site. When you start the game you'll select a race (Aquilonian, Cimmerian or Stygian) and up until level five you are considered a "commoner". At level five you'll select a major archetype which consists of rogue, priest, soldier, or mage (mages being limited to the Stygian race). You'll stick with a particular archetype until around level twenty. At level twenty you'll finally specify which particular class you want to play. that class being a refinement of the archetype you chose at level five. As an example, the Rogue archetype can become a Ranger, Barbarian, or Assassin, depending on your race. [ Edit: Apparently the information I had on staged class selection was outdated! Thanks to my readers for informing me otherwise.] The list of classes available for play at the time of this writing includes: Assassin, Barbarian, Bear Shaman, Conquerer, Dark Templar, Demonologist, Guardian, Herald of Xotli, Necromancer, Priest of Mitra, Ranger and Tempest of Set. While there are definitely some interesting nuances among these classes, most fall into your standard archetypes: Damage Dealer, Tank, and Healer. Almost every MMOG I can think of has this type of structure for its classes. Is this a good thing, or should developers move beyond typical perceptions of class structure?
