Why are certain race/class restrictions even a thing?

[Raisen223]

I get the reason for some of those, like the lore and whatnot, but the others just seem completely arbitrary or done just to force an artificial distribution of races throughout the game. For starters, why can't Halflings be bards? They've historically been bards in fantasy in general. Why can't they be rangers? Why can't elves be monks? None of this makes sense to be honest.

[wuanahto]

god fucking damnit the marr twins made barbarians why cant they be paladins fuck
but a on THJ start as a barbarian rogue, then pick paladin and ranger for your other classes and boom. dual wield, slam(not really tho), 5 or so different procs, plate, heals over time, dots and damage shields

[Ennewi]

IMO if the race/class combination exists in Norrath as an NPC, there's an argument to be made for players to have access to it. That gnome druid in Ocean of Tears comes to mind, but there have to be other examples.

[Jimjam]

The guilds are racist.

There is a self-taught half elf wizard among the West Karana bandits. Probably stole a spell book!

[Jimjam]

IRL the designers probably CBA making too many guild halls, npcs, quests, etc. Also likely wanted to pigeonhole class diversity as a primarily human thing.

[Ennewi]

At least three examples in Firiona Vie.

https://wiki.project1999.com/A_pirate_destroyer
Despite him being an Ogre. This NPC is a rogue and will backstab you! Beware, you have been warned.

https://wiki.project1999.com/A_Pirate
Race: Human, Dwarf, Barbarian, Half Elf, Iksar
Class: Rogue

https://wiki.project1999.com/A_Pilgrim
Race: Human, Barbarian, Half-Elf, Dwarf
Class: Paladin

[Jimjam]

There are plenty of iksar rogues, it is just the iksar from cabilis city are too good to allow for that sort of behaviour.

[Ennewi]

Ah right, duh. Iksar bandits and whatnot. The underground areas in FoB would have been the perfect loc for rogue GMs.
Kerosh Blackhand (https://wiki.project1999.com/Kerosh_Blackhand)

[CrazyPro]

I get the reason for some of those, like the lore and whatnot, but the others just seem completely arbitrary or done just to force an artificial distribution of races throughout the game. For starters, why can't Halflings be bards? They've historically been bards in fantasy in general. Why can't they be rangers? Why can't elves be monks? None of this makes sense to be honest.

Halflings can be rangers and paladins in Luclin. A lot of the gripes people have with the game are fixed in later expansions and of course we won't have those fixes here because "That change happened in Luclin and Luclin BAD!"

[Ciderpress]

I think the logic was something like "which classes would it make sense for this race to offer?" hence humans get almost every class as an option, the big dumb races only have three cause they haven't developed as much yet.

I still prefer it to the EQ2 system where every race can be every class. Made everything feel generic and homogenized.

[Ciderpress]

It's also the whole reason guises are cool. Using a guise to become a dark elf version of a class that dark elves can already be is lame.

Guised shamans\druids\pallies\rangers\monks are top tier fashion.

[Wakanda]

Iksar truly is the most Rogue-like race in the entire game. Glad other people pointed this out. I believe it was the Marauder Iksars in Field of Bone who confuse me when they randomly one shotted my new Iksar Necro with backstab ;)

[Vormotus]

There are plenty of iksar rogues, it is just the iksar from cabilis city are too good to allow for that sort of behaviour.

You can play Barbarian Paladins, Iksar rogues and rangers in Quarm .....

[Reiwa]

I think the logic was something like "which classes would it make sense for this race to offer?" hence humans get almost every class as an option, the big dumb races only have three cause they haven't developed as much yet.

I still prefer it to the EQ2 system where every race can be every class. Made everything feel generic and homogenized.

I've played too many servers. Is it EQ official lore that the humans and erudites came from the Marr-created barbarians?

[magnetaress]

Kerran Berserker. Froglock necromancer. And Iksar wizard/ranger plz.

[Swish]

You can be a barbarian paladin on Quarm.

[Reiwa]

I've played too many servers. Is it EQ official lore that the humans and erudites came from the Marr-created barbarians?

Timeline Context
Age of Monuments: This is when the Marr sibling gods, Mithaniel Marr (god of Valor) and Erollisi Marr (goddess of Love), created the Barbarians (Northmen) in the cold Northlands of Antonica, near the ruins of the Giant empire. This era follows the Age of Scale (dominated by dragons) and precedes the Lost Age.

Lost Age: A mysterious period with little recorded history, during which significant transformations occurred, including the emergence of Humans from Barbarians. This is considered one of the last major acts of divine intervention.

Age of Blood: This era follows the Lost Age and includes the rise of the Combine Empire, founded by Humans, and later the migration of Erud and his followers, leading to the creation of the Erudite race.

Ro'Meo is bleeding.

https://thecomicscomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Key_Peele_substituteteacher.jpg