pick 1: tank, heal, dpsFollow

so, i clicked one of the obnoxious Aion ads to the side of the screen and began to explore the site to see what the deal was. let me start by saying this looks like a fantastic game. it doesn't appear to be just another rehash of previous MMOs. i imagine it will take a chunk of players from WoW with it. FWIW, i'm not endorsing this game nor will i even play it. i just think it's moderately fresh and worth discussing in terms of WoW.

that said, while looking through the descriptions and videos of Aion, i noticed the element that seems hard to escape: the pigeonholing of classes to 1 of 3 roles: tank, heal, dps.

i remember a time when classes in WoW were so unique that you felt honored to be included in a raid and bring your piece of the pie. was there something wrong with having a character that would full-time cleanse, or one that is delegated to only CC. granted, i'm speaking of vanilla WoW, where game design was less than optimal and sometimes even accidental. but there could have been so much potential for classes to be more unique, playable, and enjoyable.

imagine, a class-spec that has the job of strictly debuffing the target. or a class-spec that was brought along to provide on-demand buffs for the raid. this was sorta the direction of WoW pre-BC(or at least where it was left). in the transition to refinement, many nuances were stripped away and a more simple role structure was born.

back to Aion, it would seem as though they do incorporate the standard three roles. i haven't played it to know, but it also appears that they did add some more specific roles with a more support aspect. i may be reading to much into the class design, it looks like each character has offensive abilities and yet each has certain class mechanics that lend itself to unique ways of applying those abilities. the classes in Aion are your typical cookie-cutter archetypes(which few games are able to let go of) but the way they are used seems a little less restricted. (again, this is all speculation and probably way off)

back to WoW, this experience has become more generic over time. all classes can deal similar damage, both single and multi-target. all classes are given survivability of near equal effectiveness(yet still class specific). there is very little you can do outside of your spec'd roles. button mashing is the name of the game for the most part. PvP is now "kill or be killed".

my conception of a place WoW could have been is like this: a paladin using only sword n board, enhancing himself or others using specific on-demand buffs. he would be a critical part of a team or raid by providing outside boosts to players that would benefit most...think of this as the guy that runs the ammo to the front line, but alot more complex. this type of play could be sub divided again into offensive buffs(more power, mana regen, haste boosts) and into defensive buffs(shields, cleansing, intervention).

similar roles can be expanded for CCing(add control, "orb clicking", keeping the enemy in place) and also for debuffing(stripping armor, lowering certain stats, creating vulnerabilities).

i understand in WoW these specific roles are used...but only on certain fights and only in specific ways. the Devs in WoW have made it clear that they DO want every class to be able to do everything(just not at the same time). however, i appreciate the days in MC/BWL when i was brought along as a cleansebot. this was when you knew you had a place and you weren't just another dps. maybe in the next gen MMO we will see this kind of diversity again.

the two issue that would face a "non-fighting class":
1: lack of raid spot. once your spot is filled by someone else, what do you do? ans: dual spec
2: how can you 1v1 PvP. you can't buff someone to death. ans: buff yourself enough to enhance your fighting to almost match that of a "fighting class". or debuff someone enough. or CC someone enough. this similar to healers and tanks in WoW PvP, you keep yourself alive while chipping away at the enemy.

finally, i do appreciate the direction the WoW Devs took to make three roles more defined and separate. i just don't enjoy it anymore, as a Ret pally i no longer feel special...at least not anymore special than my rogue or mage alts. by no means am i knocking the current game, and i wish that other players do enjoy it for what it is. just wanted to give some perspective. thanks.

sidenote: anyone watch Firefly(Serenity)? the most fantastic cancelled show ever. i recently discovered it :D

i wouldn't dare post this in general lol. i feel this forum has some of the more qualified posters and playing a paladin gives us a decent understanding of some of the different aspects of the game.

anyhow, here's a tidbit from wow.com:



i know this info is probably unchanged from 5 yrs ago. it is a nice representation of the vanilla pally. however, it seems a little bloated and misleading for the present pally model.