So i finished my PLD... After my WAR

[caspergrey]

Differences in playstyle are good, but differences in effectiveness are *not*.

I agree with most of your post minus this statement. I think that it is acceptable to have one role more effective in one situation, but less effective in another. Both should be viable in all situations. Of course no ONE class should be universally more viable. Also, I think by keeping key differences it allows you to build more synergy in multiple tank groups. If the two classes are equally effective in all cases it keeps strategies relatively consistent regardless of makeup.

Also some players will prefer higher skill cap classes. War definitely has a higher skill cap, so as a result you will get a bad war more often than a bad pld. But I'm not convinced you take that away as long as the same result can be achieved by both classes at max player skill.

This is by no means a comment on the current situation, more a personal opinion on class design in general.

[Kitru]

I think that it is acceptable to have one role more effective in one situation, but less effective in another.

General effectiveness is what I was referring to, not situational effectiveness. Purely by dint of having different mechanics, CDs, and the like, any two classes within the same role will be most effective at different situations.

Both should be viable in all situations. Of course no ONE class should be universally more viable.

"Viability" is a binary aspect: either you're viable or you are not. *Effectiveness* exists on a sliding scale, however. All classes should be viable in all cases and equally effectively, in general. Viability exists as a minimum level of performance for any piece of content. Effectiveness exists as a comparative assessment of performance between multiple classes in the same role.

Also some players will prefer higher skill cap classes. War definitely has a higher skill cap, so as a result you will get a bad war more often than a bad pld. But I'm not convinced you take that away as long as the same result can be achieved by both classes at max player skill.

There's actually a very strong case for high skill cap classes to actually perform *better* than low skill cap classes: the better performance exists as a reward for playing at a higher skill level. It shouldn't be a *massive* difference in performance, but it should still be there simply as a reward for the higher risk contingent in playing a higher skill class.

[caspergrey]

"Viability" is a binary aspect: either you're viable or you are not. *Effectiveness* exists on a sliding scale, however.

Oh, haha, yeah, typo. I was thinking Of course no ONE class should be universally more effective and both classes should be viable in all situations. My point was that I'm personally more lenient with situational effectiveness given overall effectiveness is equal.

There's actually a very strong case for high skill cap classes to actually perform *better* than low skill cap classes: the better performance exists as a reward for playing at a higher skill level. It shouldn't be a *massive* difference in performance, but it should still be there simply as a reward for the higher risk contingent in playing a higher skill class.

Good point.