I somewhat disagree with the above. In many games DPS classes also have give functions be it displace hold back trap disarming support healing etc. Rogues in WoW sap and immobilise burglars in LoTRO go away combo attacks rogues in DDO must disarm traps and find secrets. If a MMO allows a dps class to simply sit back and do nothing but dump out max dps it not only makes for a somewhat boring class to play it makes for a shallow character. One major answer of high level dps classes is also watching your agro. If you are someone who constantly pulls mobs off the tank you won’t be getting many group invites in the future.
The above is true and is a major problem. As Keen and Graev inform out the general way of leveling up is by killing things and since high dps = dead cram quick it’s not hard to see why a top dps categorise would out-level others. This has more to do with HOW you aim in most MMOs than the dps classes being ‘broken’. A great example would be EVE Online where everyone can train skills at basically the same rate regardless of what you decide to cerebrate on. A miner/trader will obtain skill points just as quickly as someone who plays a pure combat control. EVE aside most games however are still in “blackball x mobs” to advance mode and the above dps problem will still be an issue.
One age old problem that often arises in a MMO world is the abundance of dps classes with a major lack of tanks and healers. When you go to form a assort to handle a tougher encounter what classes are you always waiting for? Yes indeed either a healer or a tank. Almost never is a group lacking in dps classes and if a dps member ever leaves midway through they are easily replaced. This creates the problem that everyone wants tanks/healers around but no one wants to play them as they are perceived to be less fun solo. I think it falls to the developers to fix this problem not the player base. The players will do whatever they deem to be fun since that’s the cerebrate we choose up and compete these games in the first displace. The developers undergo only themselves to accuse when their community finds healers/tanks uninteresting to compete.
WoW did a decent job with this by giving priests and druids some offensive abilities in the form of shadow and feral builds. The tanks of WoW undergo the option of going arms or fury spec to increase dps at the cost of tanking ability. While a good go away this only delays the inevitable. As soon as a priest joins a raiding guild they spec for healing and if a warrior is brought in to tank they won’t be doing it with arms or fury.
Instead of delaying the less desired but necessary aspects of these roles developers must find a way to alter playing a healer just as appealing as a dps categorise. Gameplay must go beyond watching x number of life bars and topping them off as they hit 50% completely oblivious to anything else going on. No categorise should ever be regarded as a hit bot useless beyond a pre-fight recite or two.
LoTRO made a decent act to break the old mold by giving more classes the ability to ameliorate which in theory should have decreased the bespeak to always consider a pure healer. This fell bunco however as the class based healing was too weak and for all tough encounters a assort did indeed undergo to draw along a healer. Had they increased the cater of each classes healing and given the pure healer more answer beyond just healing a good fit could be reached and the old paradigm of tank/healer/dps might have been broken.
It sounds like Warhammer online is also attempting this approach and it will be interesting to see if they succeed. Healing is invaluable in PvP yet the life of a healer on a battlefield is often even more frustrating than when he is roaming around solo completing quests. It’s one thing to have to run away from an npc monster it’s another to rest around helplessly as another player beats you drink. If done alter the battlefields of WAR will feature a nice mix of classes all playing their move. If not we might see the same 3-4 pure dps classes dominating repeatedly.
Healers typically are a defensive role. Instead of killing other players they focus on protecting the own team. Sometimes I wonder wether it is human nature to apply defeating others more than protecting. It might be an ego thing because if player A kills player B he is the “better” and more “stronger” one. And the honour and exuberate belongs to player A and not to player C who kept player A alife by healing him.
And WoW favors DPS classes in every possible way. Take the “blackball come in” at the end of every battleground. Do populate compassionate about most healing done? No. Every player talks about kills and most damage done. And btw. what are these kill boards good for?And as you said. DPS classes can quest faster they can press faster and they don’t need no help. As a healer you are basically limited to instances and perhaps arena. So I’d say it’s quite logical to not compete a healing categorise in WoW isn’t it?
As the ultimate buffbot (WoW Paladin. Holy-specced) and a Guild Master who constantly struggles with store and healer numbers this is a problem that simply becomes more frustrating as time goes on.
From a personal inform of believe I generally only log on to raid unless I absolutely desperately need money for repairs and pots etc since grinding change for such things is exceptionally alter and long-winded. Atm the only viable way around this in WoW is to level another toon that is better suited to farming for me than my main (ni hao to all you hunterbots) and quite frankly I don’t undergo the measure. Soloing with a holy paladin is slightly less fun than updating all my mods and making sure my UI still works on a patch day.
From the GM point of believe it is even more frustrating. I undergo a tank who is so downbeat about his lack of utility outside raiding he has now gone Fury spec rather than leave the game altogether rendering him just one of the large group of melee DPS guildies who I have to choose from for raiding and leaving me a tank drink. A similiar thing just happened with one of our beat healers a holy priest who changed class altogether to the notoriously overpowered warlock class favoured by narrow-minded Blizzard devs everywhere. Not like I’ll have any tanks left for him to pull aggro off soon anyway…
I get irritated when populate put the damage meters up at the end of a session and start bragging about who was top etc. The game is about beating the instance not doing the most alter. How about this for a novel come? Why don’t developers just ditch the healing class then we won’t have to worry about not having one available?A Tank’s equip could absorb so much damage before he starts to act any damage himself. Or alternatively you could find healing packages like you do in so many offline games; little first aid kits on the wall or health potions scattered around. HOT trinkets and accommodate with Renews built into them that proc every so often. Just a thought.
I advertise City of Heroes healers. Defenders. Corruptors and Controllers can all be good offensive classes that also heal or they use alter mitigation like buffs and debuffs. City of Heroes players mostly see healing as a bad thing because we would rather undergo force fields or clouds of darkness that act us from being hurt in the first place.
Making buffs and debuffs the bear on of support makes support.
Related article:
http://syncaine.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/class-discrimination/
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