Are cracks in the Armoury System beginning to surface?

[Tigercub]

I think it's interesting that so many people say there should be a reward for getting all classes to 50. As far as I'm aware, there already is one - diversity. You get to pick and choose and adapt your group to the fight. A group with many classes leveled is already considerably more dynamic than a group with very few and therefore are already more powerful in one sense.

I don't think that on top of that you should also put others who can't invest the same kind of time to shame on one equal leveled class. Not everyone has the kind of time to make their character awesome, but we should at least be able to level one class to cap and feel somewhat competitive on that one class, just as you could in XI. The armory system turns that idea on its arse. You don't have to even be at level cap to realize that the higher rank skills on other classes will give you a massive advantage.

I also just think it's pretty silly that the strength of your class would depend far more heavily on your rank in other classes you may not even want to play. How does that make sense? In order to play GLA well you should spend three times as long on other classes to get their skills. It's basically like the subjob system turned inside out and the subjob is now your main.

[Abriael]

I think it's interesting that so many people say there should be a reward for getting all classes to 50. As far as I'm aware, there already is one - diversity. You get to pick and choose and adapt your group to the fight. A group with many classes leveled is already considerably more dynamic than a group with very few and therefore are already more powerful in one sense.

I don't think that on top of that you should also put others who can't invest the same kind of time to shame on one equal leveled class. Not everyone has the kind of time to make their character awesome, but we should at least be able to level one class to cap and feel somewhat competitive on that one class, just as you could in XI. The armory system turns that idea on its arse. You don't have to even be at level cap to realize that the higher rank skills on other classes will give you a massive advantage.

I also just think it's pretty silly that the strength of your class would depend far more heavily on your rank in other classes you may not even want to play. How does that make sense? In order to play GLA well you should spend three times as long on other classes to get their skills. It's basically like the subjob system turned inside out and the subjob is now your main.

time invested is and always will be the primary discrimination in MMORPGs.

Even without the class system, more time = better equipment, more experience and such.

There's nothing wrong with it. There's no time limit to which anyone can play a MMORPG. People that play less will just get there later.

People that leveled just one class should never expect to be even nearly as powerful than people that invested much more time on their progression.

[Tigercub]

time invested is and always will be the primary discrimination in MMORPGs.

Even without the class system, more time = better equipment, more experience and such.

There's nothing wrong with it. There's no time limit to which anyone can play a MMORPG. People that play less will just get there later.

People that leveled just one class should never expect to be even nearly as powerful than people that invested much more time on their progression.

I absolutely agree. But I don't agree that progression for one class should tangent off very, very heavily into other classes that may be of no interest to the player. Yes, we had sub jobs in XI, but this is a whole other level of time investment into gameplay that may not even be enjoyed. Effort is one thing, a second job that you don't get paid for is something else altogether.

I also think that one class at cap should, stripped down, be no more and no less effective as the next person with the same class at cap. This is common in most MMOs and I don't think there's anything wrong with this model. Gear will generally be the divider, which means people with less time can take a shot at it playing the class that they want to.

When it comes down to it we both see things the same way. Someone who invest more time should come out on top. I just strongly disagree with the way the armory system handles this. The expectation of casual players will end up being far too high in terms of time investment, and people will be stuck playing classes that may bore them to death far more often than the class which they're actually interested in.

The point we're trying to make is that you DON'T have to do all of that to be competent, but if you want to be competitive, then you're gonna want to diversify a bit.

You kind of do have to invest a lot of time into other classes just to be competent. I would call myself effective, but hardly competitive. Even at rank 30 I'd be useless without all the other skills I borrow from different classes. And it's already becoming evident that I'll need the higher rank versions soon enough.