Back during BlizzConline, I wrote a piece on Overwatch 2 that mentioned offhandedly that it sounded like Blizzard was creeping toward a “bring the player not the class” attitude in the game. The way I phrased it, I made it sound like a bad thing, and I think what was going through my head at the time was oh boy, here comes Blizzard doing Blizzard balance things again; this won’t end well.
But in reality, I like MMOs where bringing the player not the class is the order of the day. I like being able to play with my friends even if we’re all playing weird classes. I don’t want a return to the days when nobody was going anywhere without a warrior and an enchanter and a cleric. There’s a reason I keep ending up back in MMOs like City of Heroes, where sure some class combos are particularly good, but you can also just bring eight of anything and still get the job done.
On the other hand, the reason I like this is that it allows everyone to play the exact class playstyle she prefers. I don’t super love MMOs where everyone is essentially playing the same character with only minor tweaks and whole playstyles are out the door.
What are some MMOs where “bringing the player not the class” really works? How do they pull it off?
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!
