Do i need more Classes?

teyken · 2012-07-20T12:53:58

I'm making a small mmo and things are going but I seem to have gotten a bit stuck - I have four archetypes in my game and I wanted to make five sub classes for each archetype, but now I have 6 sage classes, 5 clerics, 3 agents and 3 soldier. I have upgrades for each of my subclasses so I really want to avoid to much overlap between classes. Do i need more than three different Soldier types and Agent types? Here are my current classes Sage Mages are adept at dealing damage from afar and placing powerful wards that impedes anyone who comes too close. -Shadow mage Shadow mages delve in the darker mysteries. Shadow spells apply shadow touch, a curse that snares and damages over time. -Light mage Light mages utilize the power of Light to infuse their surrounding, they are adept at marking targets an summoning latern archons to aid their allies. Enemies marked by light mages take more damage. -Urge mage Urge mages specialize in the raw stuff of the urge and the emberlings spirits that live of the pure urge energies, they specialize in damage and are very adept at setting the battlefield ablaze. -Wyld mage Wyld mages snare their enemies and reduce their damage potential. Their connection to the wyld allows them to heal faster and they are able to summon a great bear to aid them in battle. -Ether mage Ether mages are students of the all enveloping ether. Ether spells apply Ethertouch, a curse that deals damage and drains energy then the victim uses abilities. -Alchemist Alchemists can brew some very handy potions to heal and enhance your allies and poisons that damage and delay your enemies. Soldier Soldiers make up the front lines, adept at slowing down enemies and soaking up damage. -Veteran Veterans specialize in hindering enemies and soaking up damage, they are tough as nails and quite mobile. They are best when supported, as their healing abilities are very limited. -Berserker Berserkers are adept at dealing damage and can hitting multiple enemies at one. They are also quite mobile and tough. -Warlord Warlords uses shouts to buff nearby allies but deals less damage and a are less tanky than other soldier types Cleric Clerics are often found on the front lines where they heal and bolster their allies. -Cleric of Oran Clerics of Oran are crusaders of justice, they shield themselves with Light energies and are adept at curing conditions. -Cleric of Dwade Clerics of Dwade are morticians and serves as guides for the dead. Some sects specialize in undeath as a means to become eternal servants of Dwade. -Cleric of Ianna Clerics of Ianna specialize in healing through the powers of the wyld, clerics are good at healing their allies while joining in the fray. -Cleric of Callysta Clerics of Callysta are adept at removing curses from allies and blessings from foes. Their healing is also very potent and they can increase the movement speed of allies. -Cleric of Aden Clerics of Aden specialize in healing and empowering allies through the powers of the urge, clerics are good at improving their allies while joining in the fray. Agent Agents are mobile and elusive, they are adept at penetrating enemy lines to take out high priority targets. -Fencer Fencers excel at avoiding attacks and getting in and out of engagements easily, Their main function is to break the stances of their enemies, severely weakening them. -Assasin Elusive and quick, assasins are adept at killing fast and getting away. They often use poisons and light weapons. -Archer Ranged combat specialist, very mobile. The game is currently in early beta and available here : http://www.parnassus.erethic.eu/page/Download.aspx

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by teyken July 18, 2012 11:53 AM

11 comments, last by LorenzoGatti 11 years, 9 months ago

teyken

169

Author

July 19, 2012 08:36 AM

I like the Cursed idea - I think that could be very easily combined with the Jekyl/Hyde character, maybe instead of pain its drugs and at some point he just flips. Could even give him AI for a short duration. A whole new bran of Leroy.

Densoro

196

July 20, 2012 01:36 AM

Those where pretty much my concerns too, the subclasses does not have to feel very unique (most of the mages are pretty much the same) but they have very distinct spell effects, nature mages throw leaves and make spikes shoot from the earth while a shadow mage throw shadowy tentacles and swirling patches of darkness. The game effect is pretty much the same, damage and snare or root. But I know players love to customize.

As Jefferson said, there's the issue of the sub/classes feeling samey; I love cosmetic customization, but only in relation to appearance. If you give me several face shapes, body styles, eyes and hairstyles to work with, I'll be in heaven. But when the actual gameplay offers me a false sense of choice, that actually really gets under my skin. I want the rifle and the SMG to feel different. Hell, I want the top-heavy broadsword to feel different from the hilt-heavy one. Choices should matter; the player wants to be able to make their character and their play-style mesh. By just painting the special effects different colors...well, you get the Mass Effect 3 ending rage XD

LorenzoGatti

4,648

July 20, 2012 12:53 PM

You say that the subclasses can share abilities and playstyles. Do you mean rather than choosing one subclass once you reach level X and only using skills from that subclass, you can mix spells from each subclass and blend them together in a way?

If so, I suppose each subclass could be treated similar to a "school of magic" or "skill tree". For example, Fire magic excels at dealing damage, Ice excels at snaring and slowing but lacks damage, and so on. Then the player can mix spells from each school/tree to have their own unique playstyle.

I agree with the suggestion, mainly because this way the choice of a "class" would be delayed until it is meaningful and subdivided into manageable and understandable portions.
At the beginning of the game, how can a first-time player grasp the difference between a Cleric of Foo and a Cleric of Bar? The most that the game designer can expect is a commitment to a broad class, like Cleric, on the basis of a simple description and set of expectations (e.g. Clerics have moderate fighting ability, healing spells, and a number of mostly noncombat spells that fall within the sphere of interests of the gods they are on good terms with)
Then the player, after learning more of the game world and of how character abilities can be useful, can choose to make his "Agent" learn more Archery, tighten the ties of his cleric to a certain god because he knows he wants certain spells (or because the god is on the side of the good guys, or other in-game reasons), and so on.

Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru

Do i need more Classes?

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