Job Personalization: Can I Have It?

[Intaki]

Skill trees and the like just don't work. The only choices they actually give you are the optimal choice and the choices equivalent to a DRG that insists upon using Feint and Fracture in their rotation.

[Dhex]

Skill trees and the like just don't work. The only choices they actually give you are the optimal choice and the choices equivalent to a DRG that insists upon using Feint and Fracture in their rotation.

Considering the game gives you no true choices at this point I fail to see how this line of thinking holds up.

[Intaki]

Considering the game gives you no true choices at this point I fail to see how this line of thinking holds up.

The game absolutely does give you true choices. Any DRG who wants to can integrate Feint and Fracture into their DPS rotations.

And yet, no one does.

[Izsha]

The game absolutely does give you true choices. Any DRG who wants to can integrate Feint and Fracture into their DPS rotations.

And yet, no one does.

Exactly. Everyone already forgot about classes. You can get provoke physic and blizzard 2 on your lancer. You want to tank spec lancer? Have at it. Oh you don't want to? Why is that exactly? Because it's not as strong as dragoon and groups would kick you unless they were your personal friends. Yet this is customization and it's already washed out. Sure they could make them stronger. But I'm the end theu won't be equal. One spec or build will be stronger or synergies better with the party and become the standard. It's not better for drgs if they spec lancer tank build to be stronger than a war. It just kills off wars. There is no balance because there is always a winner and a looser. That's the illusion of choice. You can choose the winner or the looser, but never 2 winners.

[LandricFrey]

Exactly. Everyone already forgot about classes. You can get provoke physic and blizzard 2 on your lancer. You want to tank spec lancer? Have at it. Oh you don't want to? Why is that exactly? Because it's not as strong as dragoon and groups would kick you unless they were your personal friends. Yet this is customization and it's already washed out. Sure they could make them stronger. But I'm the end theu won't be equal. One spec or build will be stronger or synergies better with the party and become the standard. It's not better for drgs if they spec lancer tank build to be stronger than a war. It just kills off wars. There is no balance because there is always a winner and a looser. That's the illusion of choice. You can choose the winner or the looser, but never 2 winners.

What's in game now is the pathetic remains of an ill-conceived cross class system. There are good and bad choices. How a good game does class customizing is they have you chose between good and good options. Preferably what matches your playstyle. difficult to do, yes, but if pulled off correctly, oh so worth it.

[Izsha]

What's in game now is the pathetic remains of an ill-conceived cross class system. There are good and bad choices. How a good game does class customizing is they have you chose between good and good options. Preferably what matches your playstyle. difficult to do, yes, but if pulled off correctly, oh so worth it.

People have repeatedly said "in games that do it right it's great". Name one. No one can actually name one. I don't dispute the concept is awesome. Some magical game where you can play any way you want and it can be made a viable option sounds great. Where has it been done? There's a laundry list of games that tried and failed to implement such a system. Where's the success story in a cooperative style game?

The idea is lovely. The implementation is the problem. It's never actually been implemented succesfully in a coordinated team game. Just saying "it can work" isn't good enough when it has never worked, though not for want of trying.

If an idea has failed repeatedly over many uears, many games, many companies, then believing in the heart of the cards isn't enough justification to risk it anymore.

[Rafaelhades]

SWTOR tried back when it was sub based and before they streamlined the skill trees. It ended up the same as we've been saying. One spec towered over all the rest when it came to group based play. Even worse, once they retooled the trees to eliminate the overpowered builds, they inadvertently nerfed whole classes. Commando used to be an amazing turret DPS/healer hybrid. They nerfed both trees and no one wanted to raid with a Commando until they forced people into only one tree. Now, Commando is a great AoE healer and decent turret. Scoundrel is another. Due to Rogue classes reliance on stun locks to get their main dmg off, Scrapper Scoundrels were gutted to the point of uselessness. When people began to spec hybrid DoT/HoT specs, they nerfed the healing tree. Now, after the streamlining, Scoundrels are great burst healers and sub par rogues unless specced into Dirty Fighting.

Allowing people to hybridize only opens up a whole can of worms for class balance. Either it's amazing to the point it's the only option or it's sub par to the point no one will bother taking them. You make them all even and you homogenize the game.