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What's your opinion on this one?
Urobulus
Member UncommonPosts: 29
Hello everyone,
Me and my wife recently got interested in A Realm Reborn (couple of months ago) and were recently both lucky enough to get recruited in the Beta. We played numerous MMORPGs in the past like WoW, Aion, LOTRO, TERA, Warhammer and such, but there is something we were discussing this week about ARR that we just don't quite understand.
It's regarding the classes: from what we understood a character can be anything he/she wants just by equipping a specific weapon (or tool we guess for professions)... We find that weird a bit since it is completely different from the other MMOs where 1 character usually equals 1 class...
For the people who actually experienced the game in the past and know a lot about it: how is it exactly? I mean if you can be anything you want and can do anything (classes/jobs) with a single character don't you get tired of it after a while, controlling/seeing constantly the same character? Usually for us we were used to each character having their own class, appearance and personality/history if you want... Sounds kinda weird to be able to do everything and be ''stuck'' with only 1 character...
Or maybe people roll multiple characters and just stick to 1 class for each?
Any input would be appreciated since we don't know the game and its mechanics a lot and still learning, and want to shed some light on that subject.
Thank you!
Me and my wife recently got interested in A Realm Reborn (couple of months ago) and were recently both lucky enough to get recruited in the Beta. We played numerous MMORPGs in the past like WoW, Aion, LOTRO, TERA, Warhammer and such, but there is something we were discussing this week about ARR that we just don't quite understand.
It's regarding the classes: from what we understood a character can be anything he/she wants just by equipping a specific weapon (or tool we guess for professions)... We find that weird a bit since it is completely different from the other MMOs where 1 character usually equals 1 class...
For the people who actually experienced the game in the past and know a lot about it: how is it exactly? I mean if you can be anything you want and can do anything (classes/jobs) with a single character don't you get tired of it after a while, controlling/seeing constantly the same character? Usually for us we were used to each character having their own class, appearance and personality/history if you want... Sounds kinda weird to be able to do everything and be ''stuck'' with only 1 character...
Or maybe people roll multiple characters and just stick to 1 class for each?
Any input would be appreciated since we don't know the game and its mechanics a lot and still learning, and want to shed some light on that subject.
Thank you!
Comments
I still havn't played FFXIV, but played FFXI way back and it used a similar system where you only used one character for all the classes (jobs). I actually think this is better than having to reroll a new character to try something new. The biggest reason for this is that it makes levling a sub class feel more meaningful, because it builds your main character. Which e.g. is a good thing to do while waiting for a friend to reach your level. Another reason I can think of is that you'll get more familiar with the players on the server since you won't see as many different characters running around.
edit: oh and it also made me feel more attached to the one character I was playing, which I also think is positive.
I played FFXI back in the day (it was my first MMO as well) and it appealed to me that you could do everything on one character. Let's just say it was a bit weird from me going from FFXI to WoW and only being able to do one thing on one character. I didn't mind rolling different characters for the leveling up bit since that's no different than swapping to another class in FFXI/FFXIV, but it was things that you had to repeat like reputation grinds that annoyed me.
If you opt for the $15.00 a month subscription plan you'll have access to 8 characters on one server (and 40 total characters across all servers), so there's nothing stopping you in that respect if you want to make a different character for each class. Some people are probably going to do that anyway. Most people that level every class aren't proficient in all of them, so you're likely to see people focus on only select ones instead of trying to play all of them.
So yeah, if you want some diversity in your playstyle, there's nothing stopping you from rolling a Lalafell character who focuses primarily on playing one class and focusing on one gathering and crafting class like it's done in WoW. Many roleplayers will like these options. I myself just prefer to do everything on one character. I will probably end up making a couple other characters just to experience the other two nations' stories since apparently that's the main restriction you have on your character.
As others have said, it's a similar system to their first MMO, FFXI. You tend to create one character, but then you change that character's job or profession to effectively play different classes. You level each job independently, just as you would level each class independently in other MMOs. Switching your job is like playing a whole new class. The main difference is the gear you accumulate can be used for any of the other jobs you switch to, assuming the class you swap to uses a particular type of armor.
Also, progression in the FF MMOs tend to be much more slow and methodical. Status symbols you earn from completing major events are retained in this system, even after you swap jobs. For example, in old FFXI, you could be a veteran who has just unlocked the summoner job for the first time. Players would see you're a level 1 summoner/ level 1 white mage, but also that you're rank 10. They automatically have more respect for you and know you know what you're doing because the rank implies you have a max level character and have completed a lot of the hardest organized group content in the game. It's a feat of your character that you get to carry with you forever.
In theory yes, but it was always possible to drag even a level 28 through all of that content due to lack of level restrictions on the main city missions. In fact I was Rank 5 before I hit level 30 due to this very reason. Rank 10 =/= know how to play your new job.
I should have clarified that my experiences with FFXI were only during vanilla through COP. At that time, I remember being rank 10 was kind of a big deal. I mean, there was certainly content that was more prestigious than that, like completing AF2 sets from all the Dynamises or fighting the gods in Sky, but reaching rank 10 at least indicated A) you've played the game for many many months in order to have a near max level character, which meant
you were familiar with every single job and their roles, C) you knew how to navigate all facets of the game, and D) you knew how to perform effectively in a group.
When did you play? I don't know what it's like now. From what I've heard, you can level ridiculously fast and be powered through most content. When I played, all the rank missions, Zilart missions and COP missions DID have level caps. Do they not anymore? You definitely couldn't get carried through content when I played. A level 75 being leveled down to level 25 was exactly as effective as a natural level 25 character. And they were restricted to the same gear.
http://absoluteretribution.enjin.com/ Guild Website and Recruitment link
First you really shouldn't talk about experiences in beta, or even being in beta due to the NDA and potential for account banning.
To answer your question, you could roll multiple characters but to an extent you will want to level certain classes along with your main in order to use some of their abilities to augment your chosen "main class/job" (certain abilities, but not all, can be used by any class once you have unlocked them).
I don't get tired of the same character, I get more attatched to it because I don't have to abandon it because my friends need a tank or a healer to fill in. After years of playing and eventually maxing out all jobs (in both XI and XIV) my character is by far more memorable than that I have had in other MMO's.
But again you can create alts if you want to for role playing reasons (which I think is what you are referring to). You will also be able to pay to change race/gender/name I'm sure not long after launch, and I think if you do end up playing the game you would be more likely to do this. Though a lot of people create alts, once you go to a one character system it is hard to go back to being restricted to just one role for the life of a character.
http://xivpads.com/?1595680
http://guildwork.com/users/murugan
From my experience anyone that has played FFXI prefers the job system there to the 'one character, one class' system seen in most MMOs. It'll be the same in XIV.
Bear in mind that content cleared with that character is permanently cleared, regardless of changing jobs, which gives your achievements much more value as they are persistent throughout your entire play experience. If you want to play another class/job you don't have to repeat the same content and go through the same creation process again and again. You don't have to redo the tutorial areas. You don't have to redo main storyline missions. You also retain all money, items and equipment which makes levelling other classes easier. The fact that most players will stick to one character also gives the community a massive boost as players will be more likely to recognise each other and form friendships.
OP you speak as if you would get tired of playing the same character all the time, yet would you not be more likely to get tired of redoing the same content with a different character every time you wanted to play a different class?
The only drawback to being restricted to one character is for roleplayers who like to play different races and personalities. You can create alts if you really want to but you'd be hampering yourself in the long run as there's a cumulative benefit to levelling all jobs on one character (you can use learned skills on other classes). You also need to level multiple classes to unlock a given job.
IMO it's the best class system possible as it massively increases replayability, increases attachment to your character and encourages everyone to play every class (meaning better availability of tanks and healers).
I've honestly always been surprised that more MMOs haven't tried to emulate the job system. (I've also always been surprised that more single player games haven't tried to use job systems similar to that of Final Fantasy Tactics.) The whole job system concept seems exclusive to the FF franchise, yet it's so effective and popular.
That said, we shouldn't pretend there aren't both pros and cons. If you choose to go with the job system, you have to design all your leveling content around it. It wouldn't work at all in GW2, for example, where so much of the fun and replayability in that game lies in experiencing the vibrant personalities of each race, taking several characters from several races through their personal story lines to explore the dozens of branching story arcs. If you could only do the storyline once in that game, you'd permanently miss out on 80% of the story content, which, aside from being sucky for the player, is a lot of inefficiently spent development time.
If you're only intended to play one character, and all the main progression for that character is permanent, the game needs to either offer a lot more stuff to progress through or make the progression and leveling really drawn out and slow, in order to prevent players from consuming all the content too quickly. I think FFXI offered a decent amount and variety of goals to progress toward, but they really did stretch it out quite a bit in order to achieve longevity. The vast majority of time spent in FFXI was just grinding out levels for each job you wanted to level. The moments where you did the good stuff, the real progression goals--rank missions, COP/Zilart missions, unlocking access to certain areas, sub job quests, burning circles, limit breaks, AF quests--were few and far between; at least when I played in the old days. The game relied on a lot of grindy filler to occupy players' time.
And all of the leveling was insanely repetitive. You went through the same zones every single time. Combat consisted of one skillchain + magic burst cycle that you set to rinse and repeat. But those are less problems intrinsic to the job system and more problems with FFXI specifically.
Anyway, like I said, I'm a huge fan of the job system overall, and I would like to see it used in many more games.
You're right, it does have its drawbacks, but its mostly just a matter of designing the game content differently to account for it. FFXI was grindy but bear in mind it was released at a time when that was the norm for MMOs. There was also an absolutely huge number of places to choose to level at any given time which added a lot of variety and kept things interesting.
There are potential flaws in the 'all-in-one' class system but they're dependent on content design and can be overcome with careful planning on the part of the developer.
In XIV's case we know that the main story alone will max one class, presumably side quests will be enough to max another, beyond that you have levequests, hamlet defense, FATE and group xp chains to level the rest. I think it's safe to say XIV has a lot more options for levelling alt classes than XI ever did.
Edit: Oh and the bestiary, can't forget that one; rewards xp, gil and items for killing specific targets based on your current class.
I did rank 5 around the time of CoP on my main character, which I've been playing since a few months after NA PS2 launch with only a few breaks here and there (and the only significant break being from last april til october so I could focus on getting things done in XIV). They removed all mission caps, they adjusted it so that your gear scaled down accordingly(though still a bit OP'd) when synced.
With sneak and invisible you could/can technically drag a level 1 through the content(or just let the high levels train mobs away), even "back in the day" because even if they died during combat they were still credited for any kills needed when KO'd as long as the mission/quest did not have ANY level restrictions in place to start them.
You can be every class on one character, but you can only be one class at a time. Also, every class has it's own individual level you have to level up.
Switching classes is easy and can be done simply by equipping another weapon.
Also, there are cross-class abilities. For example, levelling up Conjurer (the healer class) will let you use Cure and Protect on anyother class you choose, such as gladiator for example. There are many cross-class abilities (though I do not think all of them will be available, I guess for balance but also so that the class always feels iconic; ie. I doubt Holy will ever be usable by anything other than White Mage). This allows for greater customization of your character.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
http://absoluteretribution.enjin.com/ Guild Website and Recruitment link
You get the new version of the game at no cost, and a free 30 day trial. If you're interested in trying a different game, give this one a look at Phase 3 beta. (all previous owners of the game can try it then) You have nothing to lose if you want to try a different game, and this game has changed a lot.
@Lord.Bachus.
YOu can't really judge this version of the game on the old one at all. They had to scrap the old engine completely, and build a new one completely from scratch. They are using the some of the same art assets and a some of the core ideas, such as The Armory System, but it is essentially a compeltely new game, rebuilt from the ground up. For teh exact reason as you mentioned :P The original game was far too broken to repair.
Please give it a try!
@birdycephon.
In the original version, the classes were all available from the beginning all you had to do was switch out your weapon. But i htink it's changing in 2.0, I htink you'll have to unlock them. (Not difficult I imagine)
Also, rmbr classes and jobs are different. Jobs, in version 1, were unlocked around level 30 after doing a quest, and getting two classes to certain levels. For example, to unlock Dragoon you have to be Lancer level 30, and Pugilist level 15. Then you went to Coerthas and then began a quest line that unlocked the powers of the Dragoon.
Jobs are more specialized than classes, and can use only cross-class abilities from specific classes, but excelled at their specific role. For example, as a class you can equip and use any cross-class abiity you've unlocked, but as a Dragoon you can only use Lancer and unlocked Pugilist cross-class abilities. However, they're damage with lances would be increased far beyond a normal Lancer (if I remember correctly.)
So Jobs and classes are useful for certain purposes.
They way the Jobs worked in 1.0, was you equipped a special stone (like on off-hand sort of item) and it upgraded the base class. For example, equipping the Dragoon Soul (you have to be Lancer) enabled the use of Dragoon only abilities and equipment.
I don't know how much that has canged come 2.0, we shall have to see. I doubt it's changed very much, the Job/classes were more of the better features of the old version.
So you get free access to the beta and a free 30 days at launch but you're not even going to give it a chance to see if you're wrong? I don't think you realise quite how much has changed...