Every single class and build in every MMO is governed by two separate but interlocking things, the look and the feel. These things do not inherently clash, but they definitely can clash. It is entirely possible that you want to play as a damage-dealing caster in Final Fantasy XIV who never gets into melee but simply smashes everything to pieces with wind, earth, and water… which means that you have to decide between playing as a Black Mage to fulfill your mechanical preferences or a Red Mage to get the visuals you want. It’s a problem.
For many people, this is a non-problem; you play what you enjoy playing and you don’t really care about the aesthetics, or you play what looks cool to you and you adapt to the mechanics accordingly. But it can still result in a disconnect and making the choice between what you think is a cooler look vs. what you think is more fun to play. So do your MMO builds gravitate toward aesthetics or mechanics? Do you play what you think looks cool or what you think is fun to play?
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!
