What is the purpose of the classes in RPG games ? Why instead of classes games will give you long list of total abilities that you can learn and then use ?

The purpose of classes is to provide pre-made groups of abilities. The advantages this provides are pretty good.

Unbalanced characters are harder to make. For instance, you can''t have a character who totally kicks butt with a sword AND can cast high-level spells if there''s a fighter class and a mage class that already implants either extreme. But with an ability-based system, the player might be able to put all of his/her points in those abilities and put none in some of the less interesting stuff (such as charisma or poison use).It also allows players to associate more with different characters. For instance, anyone will recognize a character the moment you say "I have an elven mage." But if you say "My elf has 6 points in magic-use, 2 in equipment, 4 in alchemy, and 1 in combat" you end up with somewhat of a mess. Besides, isn''t it cooler talking about an army of mages than an army of NPCs with 4 or more in magic-use?

On the flipside, a well-designed ability system can allow for more and better customization. The more parameter that a player must tweak, however, the easier the potential for a strategy that''ll unbalance the game to be found.

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Original post by RuneLancer
Unbalanced characters are harder to make. For instance, you can''t have a character who totally kicks butt with a sword AND can cast high-level spells if there''s a fighter class and a mage class that already implants either extreme. But with an ability-based system, the player might be able to put all of his/her points in those abilities and put none in some of the less interesting stuff (such as charisma or poison use).

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There''s also the flip side of this, too: It''s harder to accidently make a character that you spend lots of time in but who sucks. You assume that the designers balanced things for you, and so if you find yourself in a hole your thoughts tend more toward, "how do I play this class differently?"

With a classless system, or one where you have classes but still can assign points (Diablo), it''s easier to get trapped. Happened to me once, btw, in Diablo when I thought I could play a pure rogue, no magic. Thinking they wouldn''t have given me the option for no reason, I maxed up on everything but magic and got to a level where lightning throwers killed me instantly every time I went to the level. With no points in magic I didn''t qualify for even the wimpiest magical armor. I had to quit the game.



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Just waiting for the mothership...

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Original post by Zenith2n
What is the purpose of the classes in RPG games ?
Why instead of classes games will give you long list of total abilities that you can learn and then use ?

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Consider that one major purpose is, in single player, to create a different feel and set of expectations the next time you play a different character; and in multiplayer, to clearly make teams interdependent by restriction of abilities like healing or hacking or bribery.


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Just waiting for the mothership...

I have never liked class systems or leveling, but I accept that they have majour advantages.
The way I prefer to do things in RPG''s is to have a set of skills that increase as the player uses them. You can now use the values of these skills to figure out the players ''level'' and ''class''. for example:

Name: ''Saint George''
Combat: 12
Magik: 4
Stealth: 2

The player would not be able to see these stats, but would be told that they are called saint George, that they are a warrior (because combat is their highest skill) and that they are, say, level 2 (because they have 16 total skill points and you have a level per 8 skill points). Georges Player can now say:

"Yeah, My charact0r, Saint George, Is a level 2 Warrior! He would beat your character with a trout any day!"

All in all, that was a rediculously complicated and irritating way for me to say what I wanted to say... but I think the point is evident. *sigh*.

Good use of skill trees can compel a player to get skills that are complementary without totally locking him out of other abilities. As much as I hated the sphere grid in FFX, I think that a heavily modified version of it might be just the ticket in a more open-ended game with less concrete characters.

I''d also like to see equipment proficiency in there, and equipment affinity, too. Basically, my concept for a good classless system is to have classes arise naturally, and be named by the story and world, rather than by the character creation screen. If you study unarmed combat, and meditation, and autokinetic magic, then congratulations, you''re a monk. If you get good enough in these skills, your character will develop an affinity for loose-fitting, comfortable garments that offer a wide range of motion, so you''ll dress like a monk if only for the performance bonuses. If you get a high skill in chi manipulation, focused strikes, barefisted combat and stone body training, you can petition for admission into your friendly neighborhood Shaolin temple, where all your skills will be honed and tested until you become an accreditted warrior monk. It''s not so much an upgrade as it is an earned title.

Now you can do "Monk" missions, and enemies of the Shaolin will attack you when they see the little insignia you wear. But you''ll be a Shaolin monk, so you''ll probably kick all their asses. Woh-Pah!

I remember there being a MUD server I looked into once (I think it was LP) that didn''t have "Classes", but rather had skill categories that you would then select to compile a character. The more skill categories you picked, the more EXP it required to level up. So, yes, it was possible to have a KNIGHT-MAGE cross, but the EXP requirements would kill you.

Personally, I think Classes are backwards. Why choose upfront the better class when you''re new to the game and will probably make a decision you don''t like later? Why not start the game from a very small pool of classes, and then as the player gets better, expand his choice of classes to change into based on what he''s already done?

Inmate, I think that Seiken Densetsu 3 did that. You start as a base class, but every so often you get a chance to change, and you get two or three choices. Each specializes in a different area, so if you''re a swordsman you might become a knight, with better defensive ratings, a gladiator with better offence, or a fencer with better speed. Each is a compromise, and later on you can do it again and again, but you can never go back. That way, you start out balanced, but as your gameplay style develops, you can customize your character to match.

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Original post by RuneLancer
Besides, isn''t it cooler talking about an army of mages than an army of NPCs with 4 or more in magic-use?

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If you tie class into professions and training, while hiding the stats you can make games more ''story-like'' ie. My character became a mage, after he helped the beaten up old wizard.

The fact that the player doesn''t no the game is one of the benifts of classess, it forces the player into a certain archtype that will allow them to play a balanced character. With skills only it can become difficult since the player may find that they wasted several hours levels investing in skills they never use.

Classes are mainly for play balancing and player convinince. They help prevent the creation of useless characters, or over powered characters.

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