Most modern MMORPGs place a high value on the perfect balance between classes and the maximum freedom of players. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner believes, however, that this is a completely wrong approach, and it kills the fun in the genre.
The maximum freedom for every player is something many modern MMORPGs flaunt. And at first glance, that sounds great. After all, I can do anything, right? All classes can wear almost all weapons, and I can build a build that perfectly matches my playstyle.
In some cases, as recently seen with New World, MMORPGs even completely forgo classes and define your “class” only by what you wear. But with this maximum freedom, even the best balancing reaches its limits.
The developers want to ensure that no player has to wait in line and that everyone can participate and even do things themselves. But this takes the fun out of the genre and completely removes the RPG from MMORPG.
Freedom Limits You
The more freedom an MMORPG offers, the more different directions players will take. However, this also means that the difference in damage from different builds can become massive.
The touted build freedom usually dies when the MMO has been out long enough for a meta to form. Some fans, wanting to get the most out of their characters, put together the best builds in the game and are happy to share these with other players.
Even fans who are not deeply into the game to figure out these builds for themselves adopt them. It’s often seen that it works for the “good players.” A meta establishes itself where usually only about 10 of the hundreds of possible builds for your characters are truly played.
Whether you have fun or not becomes irrelevant. A warrior is expected to charge into battle with two axes and banners. But if you want to fight as a warrior with a sword and shield, you often have to do that alone because groups simply won’t take you.
As such, you bring your group less than a differently equipped warrior. And that’s why the perfect balance between classes, if it still exists, is ultimately harmful to the MMORPG itself.
If you still want to start with New World, we have the top 5 tips for you:
Not every class should be able to do everything
In the name of balance, all classes in modern MMORPGs are often further adjusted so that each class is supposed to do everything somehow. This often happens for the reason of achieving precisely the opposite of what it ultimately aims for.
It is often said that these steps are intended to validate all classes, so that no one has to wait in line. But precisely because of that, classes must wait in line. If everyone can do everything anyway, as a group leader I only need to take those who deal the most damage.
A negative example of this is currently unfortunately my old favorite MMORPG Guild Wars 2. Although I stopped playing this game for exactly this reason about 2 years ago, I still follow the patch notes and often want to just shut my eyes while doing so.
All classes can provide nearly all buff spells and the unique bonuses of the various specializations must give way to general buffs.
In this meta, not only does the sword-and-shield warrior have no place anymore, but also the previously touted double-axe-banner warrior. Because no one needs his banners anymore since other classes now give the same buffs, just more efficiently. Thus, the actual freedom of players in everyday gameplay is further restricted.
Unique buffs are not enough
I quickly switched from Guild Wars 2 to Lost Ark, and admittedly, the developers at Smilegate do this a bit better. Here, each class brings a unique buff that makes it valuable for the group and cannot be stacked.
This makes it worthwhile to take each class, while at the same time preventing a group from consisting of 8 of the same specialization just because it deals the most damage. This is a significant step in the right direction, but personally, I still don’t think it’s enough.
Because I still miss the RPG in MMORPG. Class identity suffers because everyone somehow must still be able to do everything. A unique buff is simply not enough if every character can still jump, counter, or roll out of the way.
If I am playing a berserker with a great sword on my back that is bigger than I am, I do not expect that character to be particularly mobile. But he is – and that is annoying.
At least to me.
Even after 1,000 hours in Lost Ark, I still feel silly rolling on the ground with this monstrous sword to dodge, just because a quick rogue can do it too, and one wants to be fair. That’s pure nonsense that pulls me out of the “role-playing” of a berserker. My actions simply do not feel berserker-like.
Ashes of Creation could be the salvation
That’s why I am currently eyeing with greedy eyes the upcoming Ashes of Creation, because what has been seen of the class system so far appeals to me incredibly. Although the 64 classes that are supposed to exist initially seem as overwhelming and “too free” as in ArcheAge, the concept is different.
In Ashes of Creation, you choose a base class and later add a second one, thus receiving a new class. Unlike ArcheAge, which functions similarly, you do not simply get the skills of your second choice on top.
Instead, the spells of your base class change depending on which secondary class you choose. If you pair a cleric, who masters the magic of life and death, with a tank, you will create a paladin. This paladin then focuses on the life-giving skills of the cleric and gives them a kind of holy aura.
If you pair the cleric with a summoner, he becomes a necromancer. This necromancer then focuses on the deadly skills of the class. This way, you remain adaptable, bring unique buffs to your group, and do so without having to sacrifice the class identity of your character. Provided, of course, that the system works out in the end as it currently looks.
Of course, some balance is necessary so that no class in an MMORPG completely escalates and another is left behind. But perfect balance simply makes many MMORPGs worse than they need to be. Because it has to sacrifice much of its charm for it. It has to strip some of the “RPG” that makes it what it is.
Not every class has to be able to complete all content equally well. Not every character has to necessarily be able to fight through everything alone, and it is perfectly fine if certain classes are clearly weaker than others in specific content. Or what do you think?
Even if Lost Ark could still improve in terms of class identity, MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch states: “I threw money at Lost Ark and finally it’s fun for me”
