-----signature-----

That's pretty much how I've read every one of your posts today so far lol.

 

-----signature-----

Developing MMO mechanics are not an easy task.

If you build it with pure balance in mind, it will not be fun to play.

If you build it with varied and fun game mechanics in mind, it will not be balanced.


Many of you have no idea of the complexity involved in getting everything just right to appease a whiny kid and his game.

 

-----signature-----

I am sorry that what I said went so far over your head.

 

-----signature-----

I think making your classes deliberately unbalanced probably helps retain subscribers. For every one person who actually quits over balance I bet there are two who constantly reroll the FOTM class to feel powerful who might not have stayed subscribed if the developer's didn't give them a class better than all the others.

that's why i asked if they were smart or dum.

 

-----signature-----

Imo, software engineers are all 2 standard deviations more intelligent than the norm.

 

-----signature-----

I think the best MMO class systems I saw were Horizons and Rift.

In Horizons you could switch to any class, each class had a set number of abilities, and you could carry over some of the abilities over. But if you switched classes you would only carry over the abilities that where half your level in that other class.

so a ranger 10 who switched to another class would retain the abilities of a ranger 5. I think Lyndrek the Saris was a ranger/druid/warlock/something else.

it allowed for a lot of customization.

I also enjoyed RIFT's class system where they have 4 basic classes but 13 specs, and you could switch between 4-5 sets of 3 specs. I hear now that it's now more cookie cutter since people figured out the "best" combinations but I enjoyed their system while I played. Lyndrek the mage was a Chloromancer/Elementalist/warlock, or Stormcaller/Elementalist/Chloromancer/ or something (always a chloromancer though I loved healing as a mage.) depending on the Role I chose for the time being.

If you are going to have a class system make it seem like less of a class system as possible.


I wish more MMO's did skill systems though, no classes just skills, level up what you use.

 

-----signature-----

Oh, smart. In an evil way. Kinda like you. Or an advertising executive.

They are aware that how frustrated their players are doesn't matter a bit. What matters if that they keep paying the 15 bucks a month. Having two frustrated people coughing up the 15 bucks a month is twice as good as having one happy subscriber.

your rift example is perfect for why this is some kind of strange torture technique by devs.

It's not new at all. We talked about it in EQ. If you want to play the hardest content you have to have the best skill set by the player and the class.

Sure you could run without an enchanter, but you had to do things that you wouldn't have to do with an enchanter. Meaning if they made the dungeon as hard as they could, you could only do it with an enchanter. it also meant that people wanted dungeons that played medium and looked very hard. The problem with that is that if your dungeon plays medium it will be super easy for an awesome group.

I think the only way it could really be solved would be to only have a few classes and for them to all have the same abilities that they would have to know how to use in different situations.

but this type of game likely wouldn't be as financially lucrative. So like most things we are forced to do something less than ideal because it is more profitable.

 

-----signature-----