Should all races have access to play all classes?

I think all classes should have "restrictions" to what they can and can't be. However with enough hard work they should be able to bypass them and maybe perhaps have something unique.

Skills and classes should not be restricted from races.
There may be some bonuses and penalties derived from attributes.
And based on attributes, I would expect most Ogres to be stronger and have less dexterity than Ratongas.
Some classes and skills might only be taught by one race/culture/religion/organization and require building faction to learn that special skill/class - sure.

Yes. Already in the game design.

Right.
I might want my wizard to use the warrior's Leap. That doesn't mean I will ever play a warrior base class.
I'm never going to be a tank.

Why would an ogre mage be a harder tier vs. anyone else?

This is not something I feel strongly for, and wouldn't bother me to go any way. That being said there is a few ways to make it all races can be all classes and still put limitations in.

EQNext Devs have stated that they don't want stats to play an important role for gear. Its possible to obtain stats just not in the normal sense of common MMOs. Just make classes require a certain base stat before they can be obtained and used.

Example: I am a ogre and there default high base stats are str and con, but have a low starting int and wis. I have some points I can play around with and if I wanted I could place them all in int and make a mage (thinking of Ogre Mages from D&D). Since int was my lowest stat I had to use all my starting points for it but I find its worth it.

Later on I find a NPC that offers paladin to characters if they have the requirements. Requirements are reputation based (good) and having a good wisdom. Sadly I do not have a good base wisdom yet, but don't worry I can increase my base wisdom. Thus I work on increasing my wisdom so I can become a paladin.

There just needs to be ways to increase a players base scores. Much rather see long quest chains reward an increase in a stat point then a piece of gear.

What happens when you reach a skill cap or you progress to a point where you won't be able to amass enough new point to go into anything else?

I figure it would be like Final Fantasy 11 where anyone can be anything, but some races will be better at certain classes than others. I am curious to know exactly what they plan to do because it seems like they don't want to punish anyone long term for choices made at the start. Outside of making race nothing more than a palette change or a RP device I don't see how every race can be equally viable for every class. At least not from the start.

It's simple - you make the bonuses from gear more important than your personal stats.

Gear is going to be a big part of this game - not sure how they'll do it without it just turning into a tiered grind/camp fest, but I'm holding out a shred of hope.

Well, the way I see it is, a Dark Elf shouldn't be able to play a Paladin, it's just not in their nature.
But, a Dark Elf should be able to play perhaps something a little less than a Paladin, so they can still take the path of being a 'good' character.

I think each race should be able to have the main archetypes and then a little more, so a Dark Elf can always be a wizard, warrior and ranger and perhaps even a holy character (not too much though).
As long as I can play an Ogre mage/Froglok assassin, I'm fine though.

Any Race, Any Class, Any Starting Area.

That gives you the most combinations and the most replayability.

It also gives you the most contol over character creation, letting you create a character you really want (and will care about).

OH MY GOD! I hope with every fiber of my being that you are entirely and completely wrong about this. Overemphasis on the importance of gear has destroyed every single MMO I've ever become disgusted with. Gear should have only subtle effect on your ability. Skills and stats should be everything, and very slightly affected by your gear. You have just defined the Monty Haul syndrome which is a frigging abomination. If I wanted to play Diablo I would.

And what is the nature of EQN dark elves? For that matter, what exactly is an EQN paladin? Fundamentally speaking, a paladin is a warrior with heals/buffs. How is healing and buffing incompatible with dark elves? That makes no sense.

I don't understand why people cannot seem to grasp the fact that EQN is NOT the same Norrath as EQ or EQ2.

Not in their nature is racist.
Which was a necessary evil of RPGs when the US was still recovering from institutional racism.]

EQNext gear aren't going to impact character attributes. Quote from this interview:

McPherson: Yeah, we call those attributes. The attribute system is completely different in this game. So, instead of all of your equipment giving you attributes, attributes aren’t found on equipment. Attributes are very rare things that you can work tremendously hard to modify. Giving yourself a point of strength means that maybe you jump higher, or really significantly cool things...and that’s one of the things you can progress and earn in the game.

Check the rest of the interview for more information on attributes (it's the best EQNext interview out there in term of information as well).

As someone who plays mostly dark elves, the question about if they can be paladins somewhat intrigued me. I think most of us grew up with something along the lines of he is the defender of all that is holy and good! Where as a Shadowknight calls upon the powers of evil in direct opposite. Well what if you take it from the perspective that a paladin is like a cleric, a channel for their patron deity. However Paladins are more melee based, and clerics more spell based.

So now you have a Dark elf Paladin, who is a melee based channeler their god, and just to make it more confusing lets make them a follower of Innoruuk. Some would say your describing a shadowknight, However a large part of the shadowknights abilities were always to do with the powers of the dead. A Dark elf Paladin of Inny, could have powers to heal in the way of hatred "Innoruuk burns the target players wounds with seething hatred causing them to close and cauterize", he could be a fervent follower as such, that his whole reason may be he joins a raid on the plane of hate just so he can break Innoruuk's favourite effigy of himself, just to Inspire great hatred in the god and make him proud!

Shadowknights as I remember them were members of the dead in Eq1, feign death, death cloud, as Necromancers were spell, SK's were melee. So rather then calling upon their god, they summon the expertise and knowledge of those who have fallen before them, perhaps a good shadowknight (yeah it's hard to see) Is one who instead of uses the powers to benefit him/herself, uses his powers to put the dead to peace or (yeah I am reaching now) perhaps call upon a related person from the Ethernere to give solace to haunting ghost. I guess the whole point I am trying to make is it's a matter of PERSPECTIVE.

No one choice you ever make when creating your character should be taken lightly, you should play how you want thou that is for sure! It should however be reflected by where you start, you have chosen your path and if it is not the norm amongst your culture, you might be banished to a place where you may be JUST accepted by the townfolk, they may are weary of your kind and see that you need to prove yourself, kinda a way of making the less common class/race combos more of a challenge! =).

Depends on the system.
Typically, a paladin and healing cleric are using holy power to add life - countering Unholy/Necro powers of unlife/death.
Shadow knights and necro clerics are using unholy power to add unlife/death - countering holy powers of life and healing.

If EQN isn't using that counter balance, a paladin could simply uphold the ideals of any god.
Sure.

Certain classes' availability is determined by player actions.

I can't see how you can have "strong" restrictions for classes with your annonces: multiclassing, only 8 to choose from start then about 32 to find? So if I start a caractere on day one of the game I won't know, except for the 8 starting classes with others classes I will be restricted with? Noway it can work like this.

But some disavantages, why not. I used to play a dwarf illusionnist in EQ2, it was so fun to be the only one in the whole server, just have to compesante a few INT, nothing impossible

i like when people think outside the box, and having that available would be nice. maybe odd class/race combinations would be as useful as the player is skilled, if the player is skilled, these might be more desirable than their common class/race counterpart in a group/raid. or maybe if friends wanted to create alts that are specifically "designed" to play together, maybe odd class/race combos would be desired.

i also think plate/chain/leather/cloth should have less restrictions. as weight plays a factor, maybe these restrictions will iron themselves out more based on race, than class.

Having never played any EQ game I am not familiar with the races or the lore, but personally I like race/class restrictions with one caviat, I don't care for racial aptitude towards a certain class, it introduces the elitist comment, "why didn't you roll a XXXX instead they make the best XXXX". I like that certain races can't be certain classes but let those that can be equal in that endeavor. This game just looks so great so far that I am all in, and looking forward to learning the world of Norrath that you know and love so well.

Cookie cutter race/class combo with the ability to unlock additional classes for whichever race you have chosen.

Example: if you want a dark elf cleric, but the only healing class available to dark elves is shamans. through quests (or whatever method) you could slowly replace the shaman abilities with cleric abilities.

[quote="Ulag_darquel_00, post: 54888, member: 9316"

So now you have a Dark elf Paladin, who is a melee based channeler their god, and just to make it more confusing lets make them a follower of Innoruuk. Some would say your describing a shadowknight, However a large part of the shadowknights abilities were always to do with the powers of the dead. A Dark elf Paladin of Inny, could have powers to heal in the way of hatred "Innoruuk burns the target players wounds with seething hatred causing them to close and cauterize", he could be a fervent follower as such, that his whole reason may be he joins a raid on the plane of hate just so he can break Innoruuk's favourite effigy of himself, just to Inspire great hatred in the god and make him proud!

[/quote]


awesome idea. a player willing to build a character that way, whether on purpose or accident, would be able to fill the roll of 2 players in that raid. it would take the "cookie cutter" mentality out of building raids/groups.

on topic of deity, im not into lore, and maybe that is why I never saw the point of deity. i would like to see what the pros/cons are before i choose one. maybe in the form of spelling it out, "choosing this will increase your mana by 5%" or maybe "chosing this will unlock this ability". or much like real life, i chose my deity based on personal choices throughout the game.