After the delay of the first beta phase was recently announced, the team from City State Entertainment (CSE) is making a big leap forward and gives the starting signal for the presentation of all 30 classes of the successful Kickstarter MMORPG.
If you have a choice, you have a dilemma!
As announced in the current livestream, the team from Camelot Unchained (CU) will begin a series of detailed class presentations as early as the end of next Friday.
The 30 classes, which are divided into 10 archetypes (including Tank, Melee DD, Mage, Ranger, Healer, Supporter) and scattered across the 3 realms (factions), will now be presented week by week in groups of three.
The special feature of the three classes of an archetype is that they differ not only visually but also gameplay-wise. For instance, the tank of one realm may mitigate damage through armor, while another may do so through evasion, and the third through life leech.
The order of the trios, whose shadow cuts can already be viewed in the class overview on the English homepage, is determined by a current community voting from the backers.
Rock, Paper, Scissors and no mirror classes
A particular feature of Camelot Unchained is that the different factions will not have access to the same classes. Instead, there will be significant differences between the realms, providing a distinctive uniqueness so players can better identify with their faction (Realm Pride).
This remains true to the “Fundamental Principles” that Mark Jacobs published during the Kickstarter phase. For even then, the developers knew that this could be a controversial topic with some risks, which the team, according to Jacobs, is prepared for:
“I want players to think about the significance of Rock-Paper-Scissors in their decisions and why we tailor this game for RvR players. I know our target audience can handle the differences without constantly shouting, ‘Nerf the Arthurian!’ Yes, it means more work for my team and it will absolutely mean that I will often have to hear, ‘But Mark, if you just change that, then my Tuatha Dé Dannan…,’ but I know I don’t have to listen as much as I would have to if we were aiming for a million subscribers, right?”
The class struggle – Diversity vs. Balance
My MMO says: Countless different classes and not even all playable for each faction sounds unusual, a little crazy, and especially like horror for balancing in today’s time. But it’s not really that new. Already Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC), the spiritual successor to Camelot Unchained, was released with 30 classes and the same system, whose “chaos” the developers have been taming for 14 years – sometimes better and sometimes worse.
As luck would have it, we already wrote an exciting article last year on Diversity vs. Balance in class design, in which we explain the system of DAOC and compare it with WoW. Whether the old veterans can still deal with the “chaotic” system and how the new generation of players will cope with the enormous class diversity remains to be seen. Perhaps we will know more by the end of the presentations.
If you want to learn more about PvP-MMO, which includes the first gameplay videos, you should definitely check out our themed page on Camelot Unchained now.
