If you ask old-school Star Wars Galaxies fans about the original implementation of Jedi in the classic version of the game, you’re likely to get an earful back. And for every person who insists that Jedi turned the entire game on its head by making everyone grind holocrons and change their skill sets to skills they didn’t actually want to play, you’ll find another person who says, “But damn, the mystery and subterfuge of being a hunted class was kinda fun!”
I’m both. I gave up my holo grind three grinds in — mid-Rifleman, actually, because eff that noise — but the drama of sheltering a player Jedi within our city walls, keeping him secret and safe from player Bounty Hunters? That was a truly unique experience.
I’m hard-pressed to think of more examples of mystery classes and content that were quite like the Jedi, probably because studios learned from that mistake (knock on wood?). But I’d love to see something like it done again, and it certainly seems as doable now as it was then to make a game mechanic impermeable to internet oversharing and game guide strategery (all that stuff existed in 2004, too!). So would you want to see secret classes and unlocks in modern MMOs, and how would you make it work?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
