Having an actual class system makes grouping players together much easier in combat, let alone far easier for searching for other players and balancing out enemies and instances.

well the interresting part about beeing able to switch classes is more to swtich the ROLE (wich is also the one that makes more sense) but since roles have broader definitions in this game there is no need for it. Also its not lore apropriate.

Please explain why.

Will the game even have instances?

Incentives like capstones and soft caps can keep players from all being uber wizard/mage/thieves. Look at D&D for an example of how this works. Often times class based restrictive systems encourage the developers to put in cheesy *iwin* skills on long cooldowns. Open character progression means the developers must balance all the skills with more care, but leads to a much more varied and interesting play experience.

I don't know if you have ever played an MMO with a well know IP like LOTRO for example.Sometimes lore has to be left aside for certain parts of the game when making an MMO.Take LOTRO(Lord Of The Rings Online),the game is a great game and for the most part everything is their you would expect to find in Middle Earth but some parts of the game have to sway away from the lore to actually get the game to work,after all we are talking about an MMO with 1000s of players.

If you are dead set on everything being about lore then you might as well stop following this game now to be honest.

Na im just stating the fact that TES games have always had a class system. i'll be the first to tell you that the jack of all trades system you would end up with in a system like that wont work in the MMORPG aspect that they are building. If the game was aiming to be more like Darkfall instead of Daoc then yes i would say the original TES class system might work.

It should to provide more incentive to play as well as protect people (at least sometimes) from wandering into a cave and getting completely slaughtered because the cave is meant for level 50s and you are level 3.

If you simplify the lore too much, you risk alienating the existing market/fanbase of TES fans. If you make it too lore-dependant, you risk scaring off newcomers to the brand.

Did you actually read up on what we know so far about the game?

Anyway..

There will be both instanced and public dungeons. Public dungeons are dungeons with only one "instance" meaning everyone who enters will be in the same instance.

http://www.mmogames.com/gamenews/5236/the-elder-scrolls-online-what-we-know-so-far

There you go.

I would rather they did the GW2 style of level scaling (or something similar).

how will it break the lore? i dont know a knight suddenly deciding to be a wizzard and is no longer able to use his knight abilities that he honed over the years is silly. thats how it breaks the lore.

Hadn't seen tha. Lot of stuff I disagree with there.

I'm not talking about simplifying the lore just certain things might sway against the lore but you have to remember TESO is set 1000s years before any of us have even come across TES lore,the world might actually be alot different than you find in single player TES games.

Of course we will be in a TES game but don't expect everything to fit into the lore of DF-MW-OB-SK.

I don't think you realise just how many people play MMO just to play an MMO and not really the lore,this is what you need to understand,we are talking an MMO not a single player game.

Seriously, you might as well be upset now rather than later,but saying that,the devs are not silly,they will keep it as close as possible,this you will have to except or don't play the game.

Just...

Disagree all you want,the wheels are in motion and the cart is moving,jump of now to save yourself the pain.

Why not just slowly follow the cart on foot to see where it goes?

That is a sensible thing to do but judging by some of the post here,they are not prepared to do that.

call me crazy but can't they make both !!

I mean you pick a:

1-thief
2-warrior
3-mage

BUT you can decide if your a:

1-thief:
a-rogue
b-assassin
c-agent

2-warriror:
a-barbarian
b-crusader
c-knight

3-mage:
a-necromancer
b-enchanter
c-summoner
d-elementalist


..etc and so on and so forth (I know there are tons of classes )

this will depend on the skill trees you pursue in your given "main" class choice

so its not too restrictive, so you get a perk like system with skill trees and all that AND TES beloved use a skill you get better at it system !!!!

stop trying, this thread is not realy for actual speculation about the class system. thats the sad part..

also i dont think they will go for the splitting off main classes later on idea. this has been around earlier but it did confuse the hell out of people. games that used to have it got rid of it EQ2 beeing a prime example. andi dont think they will have taht ammount of classes at least not on release. as i already said in my earlier post.

I would love a specialisation system as comprehensive as that, but there's always the danger of sticking the same old TANK/DPS/HEALER spec types under each of the three archetypes, which is pretty much what Rift does.

Still, a bit of imagination and innovation could make it work.

It may not have headed that way, but that's the way I started it.

it would need tons of skills and work but it can work

maybe each player can "level" all his main skills but can only specialize in 2 and thus his class is determined at the end level!

example:

a mage class has 5 main skills

1- destruction
2- illusion
3- restoration
4- mysticism
4- alteration
5- conjuration

if he chooses destruction and conjuration then he is a necromancer, if he chooses alteration and illusion then he is a mentalist mage ...etc

of course he can still use ALL the magic skills BUT he can only truly master 2 via skill trees for instance

one of my big fears is that the magic schools will not be represented like they are now. more to the point all well get from Restoration will be the good old "Heal" spells. And i bet mysticism and Alteration will be dropped enterly. I could see the same for Illusion going as stuff like "becoming invisible" will now be less magic and more a class ability of rogues (as a real SNEAKING mechanic never works in an MMORPG)

The actual schools are abstract concepts, the magic has been basically the same through each game.