Class vs. Role Interaction

Ksariyu

Basically, where do you draw the line for role-identity within a class?

Skill-Line would be the DLC-class approach, where each class has a skill line tailored to each role. EX. Wardens have Winter's Embrace for tanking, Green Balance for support, and Animal Companions for DPS.

Full-Class would be more like the base game classes, where each role will find helpful skills across all three skill lines.

Role-Lock is the OG design, where the entire class is tailored to a specific role. This would be like the old days where DK was the tank, Templar was the healer, and Sorc and NB were ranged and melee DPS respectively.

ixthUA

Role-Lock

Balancing removed meaningful classes from the game. Each class can do everything, only difference is skill visual effect and some minor (not game-changing) side effect to skills.
I play another MMO, it has 11 classes. The best tanking class gets 30% damage reduction and healing from incoming damage. The best DD class gets around 60% damage done boost. Best PvP class is OP 1v1.
With balancing, i cannot specialize into anything.
I actually play 3 MMO. In the 3rd one, damaging classes deal a lot more damage as their health goes down, not by mere 10%. Tanking classes, aside from armor, have several skills that make them immune to damage for 30 sec each. PvP classes can kill their opponent in 1-2 sec. Healers can heal entire team to full health in 1 cast, mostly used in PvP.

Tannus15

Full-Class

Role-Lock is the worst option in my opinion, especially for new players who pick a main which they later find out means they "should" be a support role or a dps and now either they make a new character and start over or get shoe-horned into a style of play they don't like.

phaneub17_ESO

Not sure how I would vote. I currently have 3 of every class: Hybrid, Stamina, and Magicka. If I had more character slots I would do a traditional Tank, a Hybrid Melee Weapon and Staff combo, Magicka with exclusive class abilities, Magicka with only staff weapon abilities, Stamina with Dual Wield, and Stamina with Two-handed for every single class. No restrictions, do everything with everyone.

SkaraMinoc

Full-Class

Either Skill Line or Full Class works for me. I just don't want to be locked into a specific role like other MMOs.

emilyhyoyeon

Full-Class

Anything but role lock. I'm ok with certain classes being a bit better than others at certain things, but please no role lock

Ryuvain

Full-Class

Why would one want role lock? Have fun getting kicked for playing your favorite class in a role they will never be able to play. Played a different mmo like that and I'm never going back. Never got to tank at all since my class could never even taunt, let alone tank any damage at all.

Supreme_Atromancer

I think the problem is that the class concepts are conceptual straight-jackets. The baked-in power fantasies aren't flexible. Fire means fire, lightning means lightning. At the point you decide that clouds of ash and pulses of lightning are refreshing healing energies, class identity has lost all currency. At the point where you decide that stamina can be used to create personalised hurricanes and summon daedric knives, stamina and magicka have lost their identities: They're just magicka and green magicka.

They just keep hammering into shape, but its just an unrecognisable blob of pulp at this stage.

Supreme_Atromancer

Ksariyu wrote: »

Role-Lock is the OG design, where the entire class is tailored to a specific role. This would be like the old days where DK was the tank, Templar was the healer, and Sorc and NB were ranged and melee DPS respectively.

Also, just for the sake of reflection, I think although ^this was how it turned out, it wasn't the designed intention. Although classes had natural roles, "role diversity" was supposed to be achievable by leaning into weapon and guild lines. People just weren't happy with margin between a dk tank and a whatever class with sword and board, although both were actually viable, one certainly had more tools at their disposal. Meta drives development.

Amottica

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Either Skill Line or Full Class works for me. I just don't want to be locked into a specific role like other MMOs.

I agree here. Role locking is antiquated and barbaric. I like the flexibility ESO provides. I have also seen guildmates tank, DD, and heal on pretty much every class. That is nice as it offers more choice for us players.