Topic

character classes

"In the early days of Glitch's creation, Tiny Speck was using a game system in which each player would initially choose from among five character classes, each of which had a primary and a secondary talent. But after many months of work on that game mechanic, the team ripped it out in October."

news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-...

i miss character classes. i do understand some aspects of why they were removed from the game. making a character class decision at the point of character creation was a big stumbling block. just too heavy a decision to make so early. also, more difficult to predict the interactions between classes and the interactions between skills.

however, removing character classes seems to remove a lot of the character from the game itself. what i mean is that there's a difference between "being a gardener" and "min-maxing the skill tree to gain maximum gardening proficiency". the former is simple and relates to identity, while the latter is complex and relates to economy. these constructs aren't mutually exclusive, but it would be nice to see more formal attention paid to identity and character.

a couple ideas for going about this..

--- bring back formal character classes, but have them be selected later in the game. perhaps around level 10. these could provide slight permanent bonuses to all abilities within a particular skill tree. maybe it provides access to completely new, "advanced" skills" far down the tree .. maybe provide the chance to switch character class every ten levels or so.

a problem with this is that it is a high investment system for the players when skill trees are already high investment for the player. it would provide a greater sense of focus tho, and character identity/uniqueliness.

--- don't bring back formal character classes, but re-imagine them using an "avatar identity" model. for example, perhaps there is a piece of clothing called "bubble tuning hat" that your avatar needs the bubble tuning skill to be able to wear. perhaps while being worn it provides a bonus toward bubble tuning. the upshot is that by wearing this hat which everyone can see, players around you will immediately know that you're a bubble tuner and that you might be a good source for fancy bubbles. you could then switch hats depending on which skills you've gained and what sort of tasks you feel like performing that day.

a problem with this is that it kind of co-opts the creative playfulness of the avatar customization system, but i imagine that by making it fairly easy to add and remove clothing depending on the situation, or by providing a few colour options, it could just add to the fun.

Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • something in addition ..

    you know those types of people who spend most of their time online complaining about the site/services/games they use and/or suggesting grand visions for how *they* think the game should evolve?

    i think we deserve a character class.

    call it "protester" or "activist" or "whiner", depending on your generosity. grants the ability to create copious quantities of "THINK, GLITCH, THINK!" posters, or giant papier mache puppets of the Gods, who might then be burnt in effigy, or +10 to petition writing etc. etc.
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Part of class choice could be skill swaps. I choose gardening class and trade my old husbandry skill for botany.
    Posted 3 years ago by Tingly Claus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It is interesting that character class is so tied into a player's identity. I mean, who didn't (doesn't) play RPGs and think of themself as an eternal mage/bard/rogue? (for the record, my husband is always a cleric) Or KoL, no matter that the pastamancer and turtle tamer were silly, it still ties into those universal identities and idea of we vs. them.

    I think the devs have said there are going to be numerous skill sets, so thus there might be room to generalize further and hearken back to ye old universal identities and make the tie between your skills and your class less direct, and create classes based on player style (trader, organizer, activist, cultivator (as in growing and raising...anything), assembler). The class would have a different interaction with each skill set; for example, a cultivator in the gardening skill set might be an obvious choice, and receive extra yield directly from a harvest, but a trader would receive bonus yield each time they traded something they had produced (or the philanthropist would have a random chance of spawning a random harvest each time they dropped or gave something away).

    I realize this increases the complexity of the system, especially as it scales to a dozen skill sets and perhaps I overestimate the desire of a player to place more importance on "roleplay" than to maximize the results of their labor. And maybe I just want a title system based on our classes, and thus be "Meer, the Grand Poobah Socializer". ;)
    Posted 3 years ago by Delphin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • that's a pretty cool idea, meer. would definitely require a lot of forethought but i like the concept of character classes enabling different 'types' of gardener, cook, rancher etc. more potential permutations could lead to more unique characters.

    i still like my clothing as visual indicator of class/job idea tho! : ]
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm not sure how this could be implemented so as not to block some opportunities for fun. I was always a little discouraged in KoL to be "only" a Pastamancer, with the skills and abilities and play-tracks available to me in that class. Sometimes the Turtle Tamers or Disco Bandits would have something that really sounded like fun, but I couldn't take part or make use of that "cool thing" because of the character class I'd chosen. And since I didn't do the multiple-ascension thing, I didn't get to choose other tracks, and got so tied to my identity as a Pastamancer that I was almost afraid to switch to something unknown, as I had all the skills and knowledge and experience and props needed for that one track already (or wait, was I a Sauceror? I forget..). I'd hope players wouldn't have doors shut to them in Glitch because of a choice they made early in the game. Maybe some of us *don't* want a universal identity of that sort? (Or maybe I just want to be and do a little bit of everything. Maybe we need a "Dilettante" class.)
    Posted 3 years ago by Eleanor Rigby Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Maybe we need a "Dilettante" class."

    that would work : ]
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • here's the thing. i'm not really into the idea of "only certain character classes can do certain things" so much as wanting to be able to adopt a formal identity that represents the things you typically do, and perhaps provides a token bonus toward doing those things.

    primarily an identity and signaling thing, more than a complicated game mechanics thing. i think that's why i like the idea of 'gear as character class'.
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Posted 3 years ago by Tingly Claus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • tingly, that's a really cool idea in its own right, perhaps deserving of its own forum topic.

    "milks butterflies" isn't quite the same characterwise as "butterfly milker" tho.
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like your idea of gear too, striatic.

    Also over my head I want a heart and a water drop, showing when I need to be loved (I can't bring myself to say petted) and watered.
    Posted 3 years ago by Delphin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • heehee.

    we'll pet you anyway.

    : ]
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm pretty excited about the idea of "gear as character class" and the mix and match opportunities thereof. Esp. if there are like n^4 different ways to be a zombie monkey robot pirate
    Posted 3 years ago by EgIantine Subscriber! | Permalink
  • another interesting aspect of gear as character class is that it would allow people to signal wether they are "for hire" by switching from casual clothes to work clothes.
    Posted 3 years ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink