Let's talk CLASS BALANCE

[ojamajoe]

I'm not sure that the original designers were interested in class balance, in the way people usually think of it. They seem to have instead tried to create a variety of possible experiences, many appealing to very different player types and personalities.

They also had a (much-maligned) "vision", which called for (among other things) rarity for certain race/class combinations; and it appears they utilized the game mechanics to attempt to make that happen.

Although balanced classes are the expectation on entering a modern MMO, Everquest was my first MMORPG and I had no such expectations when I started playing it.

I miss the RPG part...

[Zuranthium]

Obviously the take-pets-away-from-Shaman thing is not going to be a popular suggestion. But I believe it is necessary to achieve balance given everything else the class is already capable of. If you read about my own experience with playing Everquest all the way back in 1999, you'll see that my first character was a Barbarian Shaman and I became addicted to the game on that character. However, I eventually decided that it wasn't the role (buffing/debuffing/healing) I wanted to play in the game.

I specifically became a Magician because I wanted to do damage, as a caster. If Shaman had pets starting at Level 9 or 14, I would have never switched to a Magician and fallen in love with the class. I would have been perfectly happy on Shaman because I would have been doing a lot of damage in addition to all of my other capabilities. Shamans with pets are overpowered. Considering they don't even get pets until 34, it seems like a rather half-assed addition to the class that the original creators put in the game and didn't think about long enough in terms of class balance.

Originally Posted by ojamajoe [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm not sure that the original designers were interested in class balance, in the way people usually think of it. They seem to have instead tried to create a variety of possible experiences, many appealing to very different player types and personalities.

They also had a (much-maligned) "vision", which called for (among other things) rarity for certain race/class combinations; and it appears they utilized the game mechanics to attempt to make that happen.

Although balanced classes are the expectation on entering a modern MMO, Everquest was my first MMORPG and I had no such expectations when I started playing it.

I miss the RPG part...

I understand what you're saying and I'm SO with you on the RPG side of the game. I will totally roleplay when I start with p1999.

However, I certainly believe the original designers were interested in class balance (to some degree at least). If they weren't, then they wouldn't have given Rogues the "Evade" ability after people complained about how completely useless Rogues were because trying to utilize the "Backstab" ability generated enormous aggro and usually only ever result in the Rogue getting smashed. They wouldn't have buffed the poison abilities that Rogues have. They wouldn't have buffed all of the hybrid classes - Paladin/Shadowknight/Ranger - in response to how completely inferior those classes become in comparison to Warriors after Kunark was released.

[Taryth]

Originally Posted by ojamajoe [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm not sure that the original designers were interested in class balance, in the way people usually think of it. They seem to have instead tried to create a variety of possible experiences, many appealing to very different player types and personalities.

They also had a (much-maligned) "vision", which called for (among other things) rarity for certain race/class combinations; and it appears they utilized the game mechanics to attempt to make that happen.

Although balanced classes are the expectation on entering a modern MMO, Everquest was my first MMORPG and I had no such expectations when I started playing it.

I miss the RPG part...

This man speaks great truth!

Thank the Lawd this isn't EQ2, which attempted (well, still does) to endlessly balance all the classes . . .all the way into a pulpy mess of homogeneous classes.

[Zuranthium]

Once again, that's not what I am attempting to do. Please read carefully.