   Fixed or Flexible Character Classes
  In almost all mmorpgs, character classes are fixed. If you level your Fighter to level 236, most likely you're stuck as a Fighter forever unless you plan to start a new level 1 character.What are the disadvantages, with regards to the fun factor and game balance, of allowing players to change their class whenever they like? E.g. Changing class from Fighter to Mage.-----------------------------------------------Sorry my original post sucks at conveying my question. What I meant was this: Suppose an MMORPG with the typical Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief classes. Maximum level is 99. What are the cons of allowing the player to switch between Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief at the "home base".I don't mean a "class-less system". The Mage class still excels at casting spells and can't take damage like the Fighter can. While the Fighter is still king of close combat.Hence...1) The balance issue is solved. There are 4 distinct classes. No one "best" build because I am not running a class-less skill based system. Fighter can't cast, Mage can't wear heavy armor etc.2) The roles still exist. In a party you will still want someone to be the healer (cleric) and someone to tank (fighter). Once the party return to "home base", you get to choose to stay in your role or switch class.Any cons to this system?*"Home Base" could be the starting city or a specific trainer somewhere so class change is not done "on the fly" but is semi fixed over a short peri[Edited by - Girsanov on September 27, 2008 8:48:57 AM]
  Balance is the main issue. For a single player game its ok not to have perfect balance but for a MMO you need to keep the people who read the optimum build guide on gamefaq's from being significantly stronger than people who just chose the class they liked. Personally I like the job tree's from a lot of final fantasy games since it gives lots of options but lets me learn how the game works before committing to most of them.   ;  D&D used different mechanisms throughout its history to implement multi (or dual)-classing.You might want to look up how it did it.In the 3rd edition, for example, you choose which class you want to level every time. You get an XP penalty if one of your classes level is far from the other.In the 2nd edition, I think the XP was split between the classes, so you leveled more slowly.   ;  Unless you have a good balancing system designed from the start, one "build" will shine over all the others in a classless or multiclass environment.  One also looses the clarity of team roles when everyone is a little of everything.  Specialists would be harder to come by, because very few people are actually willing to devote themselves to a team role when they can be far more independent with a "solo" or "hybrid" build.The issues run quite deep, and searching around for class vs no class (or some variation thereof) on google will help.  I had to do quite a bit of reading to get the whole breadth of the subject.  One example is the old fashioned "LFG" (looking for group) problem.  It's easy to post LFG>MAGE LVL 2, find a mage of level two, party together, and go on adventuring.  It's much harder if there are no mages, or few mage specialists - remember, most people will be the ubber build or some form of a hybrid.Now, personally I like classless environments because I'm one of those people who hates being forced into anything and likes specializing by choice.   ;  Sorry my original post sucks at conveying my question. What I meant was this: Suppose an MMORPG with the typical Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief classes. Maximum level is 99. What are the cons of allowing the player to switch between Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief at the "home base".I don't mean a "class-less system". The Mage class still excels at casting spells and can't take damage like the Fighter can. While the Fighter is still king of close combat.Hence...1) The balance issue is solved. There are 4 distinct classes. No one "best" build because I am not running a class-less skill based system. Fighter can't cast, Mage can't wear heavy armor etc.2) The roles still exist. In a party you will still want someone to be the healer (cleric) and someone to tank (fighter). Once the party return to "home base", you get to choose to stay in your role or switch class.Any cons to this system?*"Home Base" could be the starting city or a specific trainer somewhere so class change is not done "on the fly" but is semi fixed over a short period.[Edited by - Girsanov on September 27, 2008 10:49:21 PM];  double posted. sorry.[Edited by - Girsanov on September 27, 2008 10:53:02 PM];  I don't think there is any disadvantage to letting a player change class, instead, its more beneficial to the player. The worst thing that can happen to a player is that they invested large amounts of time in a character, only to find that they have to start over to make something that adheres to the rules of the game. Fixed things are not fun.Instead, allowing the player the choice of switching to another class is very good. It would only drive away a player if they found out they wasted a few hours because their build is incorrect and they must repeat the entire thing again. Allowing a player the option of rechoosing the class and reconfiguring their stats they have spent time gathering is the best thing that can be done.Although, I don't really like games where an objective is too "level", especially if it takes hours to do so. I think its kind of counter intuitive that the most fun aspects of those kind of games are only when your a high level and only then are you able to get to the fun parts after having spent hours killing the same thing over and over again. I beleive that entire system needs to be rethought into something more dynamic and entertaining.   ;  Unless you really did the balance correctly, a character that is focused built on the original classes (fighter, mage, healer, etc) will still outshine the jack-of-all-trades. Most people who play MMORPGs are used to the typical tank, dps, mage, healers combination, even if you allow characters to diversify out they will still stick to the formula.The problem is the need to get the slightest advantage over others. For example, if taking 'heal 3' will make your healer heal 20hp more, all healers will get 'heal 3' instead of that 'magic missile', which is better off if the mage in the party is casting it.To solve this issue, you will have to reward players who diversify. Say an instance that forces a party of five down five different corridors where they will support each other (throwing switches and such), if a pure healer tries to go down a path alone, he/she will probably be eaten alive, but a diversified player which can heal, tank and dps will be able to do it.   ;  Oh one more thing, do not force players to diversify as players will feel that the game is taking choices out of their hands. Reward people who experiments with diversifying their characters, or at the minimum keep the cost of changing skills and so on low since this will encourage players to player around more without costly mistakes.   ;  As far as the downsides of something like this, I would add that in an RPG a character's class (and by extension the innate strengths and abilities this provides) contribute towards defining the identity of that character in the game-world. To a player who wishes to actually play a role (and to whom this is a large part of the "fun-factor"), an instantaneous switch of their character's class (and therefore their history or "back story".. was I trained in the heat of battle as a lowly recruit, or did I live a childhood surrounded by magic in a great school of sorcery?) could be disruptive.To solve this particular problem, a system with specialisation but possibility for branching into many disciplines might work.On the whole however (and most importantly, gameplay-wise) I think such flexible classing could be a lot of fun   