Classes, Schmasses!

In the ideal MMO, classes are things earned by achievement, not tracks on which one starts out. Allowing the player to choose a class at the outset of character creation seems like a great way to enable free will in game play, but such choices almost always manifest not as liberating actions, but as limiting ones. Automatically, when you click that button and choose a class, you remove entire sets of opportunities from that character, and you deny one very fundamental aspect of humanity that becomes even more amazing in game-play--the ability to create and recreate oneself.

It is much more desirable to explore what one's character *might* become instead of choosing from day one what he is and shall always be. The ideal MMORPG allows one to play a character according to his own wishes and goals, and does not hinder that development by saying, "No. You chose to be a 'fighter' therefore you can never wear robes."

While it is utterly important to make sure that classes not be restricted in silly things like what clothing they can wear, this issue goes much, much deeper than the aesthetic.

Arriving in the ideal, MMO, a player should have every opportunity available to him, and be limited only by what choices he refuses to make.

In the real world, we have only one life, and so, changing our minds about what we are to be bears a heavy cost. The ideal MMO can make trying on new identities, careers, and roles very fun and enjoyable, but only if they are actually available for exploration.

Never should a player be put in the position of saying, "I am a level 40 mage." This is the kind of statement one makes when asked by the GM what character he would like to use in the game. Statistics like level, classification, skill level, etc., are all resources used by the GM to make a challenging and enjoyable adventure for the player. They are supposed to be forgotten by the player, who is engrossed in enjoying that adventure.

It's one thing to say, "You aren't strong enough to lift that axe," or "You don't know enough about nature magic in order to use this staff as anything but a walking stick," but it is completely another to say, "You will never be able to wear this armor because you chose to be a mage."

This is one thing that Asheron's call mixed up and confused. On the one hand, one could acquire any of the skills in the game, regardless of his starting class. On the other, the classes so stunted certain skills that it became pointless to choose some of them. This brings me to my next point. Discrete character classes both hinder player's choices, and reveal bias in the developers.

Everyone has played an RPG where it was obvious that the developers would like you to choose a particular class to complete the game. We all have felt the disappointment inherent in getting midway through the adventure, only to realize that we lack a skill that is crucial to the movement of the plot, because we decided to think outside the box and play, "WARRIORS OF STEEL" as a magic only wizard class, more than likely added at the end of production at the request of marketing folks who realized that a warrior-only game will alienate a large group of consumers.

The answer to this is not to do what many MMOs have, i.e., retooling classes, adding to the list of classes, renaming classes, nerfing/boosting classes, or allowing multi-class characters. The answer is to do the hard work inherent in allowing characters to develop themselves.

Perhaps in-game there is a training school where one can earn a title: Royal Guardsman, or "Wizard of the Second Degree" but apart from plot-driven or character assigned titles, there should never be anything resembling a hardwired class into which players must fall. This is one thing that "Elder Scrolls" did right. They had classes, but it was a much more interesting experience if you created your own "adventurer" class. All skills and abilities should be made available to all characters, and only their choices should dictate what they choose to use or to be.