The designers always consider whether the game-play has turned out to be fun and involving while players go through the early stages. Have the designs that were originally done worked as we expected? Do they ensure that all-important fun factor is there? As always, we are going to announce the changes during the beta process. For this week we wanted to put some meat on the bones on a decision tying into the entire class structure in AOC game.
There are some questions remains in our mind. Whether the character development provides right balance and sense of progression. Are the classes funny enough to play?
After our initial rounds of testing we found that the classes did what we had originally intended them to do, but there was one important aspect that we all felt was lacking a little and that was diversity of abilities. Each class played within its role, but those roles meant that each class had a more limited scope than we felt players would appreciate in the long term. With that in mind we started to look at the class roles, and decided that it was important to provide each final class we wanted in the game to have a little more flexibility. It was important that the classes didn’t have too much crossover between them which would blur the definition of what that class could perform.
So what we have done is a consolidation that provides each class with a more flexible role in the class structure. This means that in the long term it will ensure that there is an extra playability in each of the classes. We feel players will appreciate this approach much more than if we stuck to a more rigid structure with less scope within each of the professions.
In order to improve the game further, we want to merge the character classes, which mean we could achieve our objectives without loosing anything from the original class listings. Here is the breakdown of what we have done for those of you that have followed the development from the previously listed professions. The final line-up is now as follows:
• Rogue Archetype – Ranger, Assassin, Barbarian
• Soldier Archetype – Guardian, Conqueror, Dark Templar
• Priest Archetype – Druid of the Storm, Scion of Set, Priest of Mitra, Bear Shaman
• Mage Archetype – Demonologist, Lich, Necromancer, Herald of Xotli Guardian and Halberdier have been merged, class name is Guardian.
• Defiler and Lotus Master merged, class name is now Assassin.
• Barbarian, Reaver and Master Thief merged, class name is Barbarian.
• Zealot and Dark Templar merged, class name is Dark Templar.
• Ranger and Waylayer merged, class name is Ranger.
• Stormcaller and Druid merged, class name is Druid of the Storm.
• Conquer and Liberator merged, class name is Conqueror.
• Scourge of Derketo’s abilities have been merged across the Priest archetypes
All the originally listed skills and abilities still remained in the game are just spread across fewer classes. We know that the players will benefit from the added abilities when it comes to the roles each class will fulfill in gameplay terms. We also know that this had to be done for the greater good of the game, and that our choice will seem the only logical one once you get your hands on the game.
What these changes accomplish is simply put that each class has much greater gameplay diversity, which is thought to be essential for the long-term playability. With more tools at their disposal players will for sure have a greater scope for their characters and thereby not feel so hedged in to a set role. It is all about the fun at the end of the day, and this consolidation will make the game more fun to play. Players will gain AOC GOLD andAOC Powerleveling in each class.
We didn’t feel that having classes that felt a little restrictive was the way to go as it simply didn’t make the game as much fun. As we see it is more fitting that characters who would flourish in the brutal and demanding lands of Age of Conan game would have more then a few tricks up their sleeves!