Character Classes

[Dagger Dias]

A lot of video games have shown us several different classes for our characters to pick from. The three most common ones tend to be warrior, rogue, and spellcaster. I will limit this discussion to those three to keep it simple. Warriors are usually the best at attacking or defending themsevles. Rogues steal, disarm traps, and tend to be more stealthy. Spellcasters rely on magical abilities rather than weapon fighting and cannot wear heavy armor in most games.

Which of the three basic character classes (warrior, rogue, spellcaster) is your favorite and why? If you could pick one of these classes to be in real life which would it be and why? What are some of your class' skills or abilities that have stuck out to you in the games you have played?

My favorite are warriors because I have always been fascinated by stories of knights or barbarians who save the princess by killing dragons or monsters with their huge weapons which are often swords. I would pick to be a warrior in real life for the same reason. I have swords of my own, some prop swords and some that are real. I also have the spiky hair of most video game swordsmen. My favorite skill, which should be painfully obvious to anyone who knows me, is Cloud Strife's Omnislash from Final Fantasy 7.

I look forward to your responses. Discuss!

 

[Slyfox696]

A lot of video games have shown us several different classes for our characters to pick from. The three most common ones tend to be warrior, rogue, and spellcaster. I will limit this discussion to those three to keep it simple. Warriors are usually the best at attacking or defending themsevles. Rogues steal, disarm traps, and tend to be more stealthy. Spellcasters rely on magical abilities rather than weapon fighting and cannot wear heavy armor in most games.

Which of the three basic character classes (warrior, rogue, spellcaster) is your favorite and why? If you could pick one of these classes to be in real life which would it be and why? What are some of your class' skills or abilities that have stuck out to you in the games you have played?

My favorite are warriors because I have always been fascinated by stories of knights or barbarians who save the princess by killing dragons or monsters with their huge weapons which are often swords. I would pick to be a warrior in real life for the same reason. I have swords of my own, some prop swords and some that are real. I also have the spiky hair of most video game swordsmen. My favorite skill, which should be painfully obvious to anyone who knows me, is Cloud Strife's Omnislash from Final Fantasy 7.

I look forward to your responses. Discuss!

I find your limiting this of three classes to be...well, limiting, for lack of a better term. As a man who grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons (usually on computers, for lack of interested people otherwise), I wonder about classes like the Rangers, or the Clerics, hell even Paladins. I've never liked the idea of categorizing everyone who can use a sword as a Warrior. For example, a Warrior, to me, is a man who lives for the battle, while a Ranger is a character with an affinity for nature and understanding of the world around him. A Paladin is what happens when you cross a Fighter with a Cleric, a man who fights to the death for his God. And let's not even get into all the different classes of spellcasters there are, each with their own unique traits and abilities.

And what about Druids, Bards and Monks? Two of the most interesting characters I've ever read in D&D books come from R.A. Salvatore's Cleric Quintet series. Danica, the Monk, and Pikel, the dwarven Druid, are two incredibly fascinating characters.

So, with that bit of introduction out of the way, I'm just going to say I'm not going to follow the three classes you've assigned, and instead pick my own. When I play games, I usually prefer playing as a Ranger, or when playing in games with parties, the Ranger is usually my favorite character. Most Rangers are innately good people at heart, who will follow just laws, and fight evil in any form it takes.

As far as who I'd be in real life, assuming the initial hard work had already been done for me, I would choose a Monk. Lethal with their bare hands, their lives dedicated to discipline, a Monk finds harmony within himself and become the complete master of his own body. Just follow this link, and tell me that the Monk class is not damn cool.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Monk

 

[Dagger Dias]

I find your limiting this of three classes to be...well, limiting, for lack of a better term.

I did that because most games have at least those three and those who aren't as into more complicated character classes like Red Mage, Summoner, Ninja, etc, will have an easier time in a discussion on just the basics. More complex character class discussion is meant to be saved for my Dungeons and Dragons thread, which should be up later this evening.

As a man who grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons (usually on computers, for lack of interested people otherwise), I wonder about classes like the Rangers, or the Clerics, hell even Paladins.

I still play D&D myself, and I like all of those classes you listed. Although I'd never play a Cleric myself. I prefer to be a fighter rather than a healer. Be on the lookout for my D&D thread. It will probably be in the Potluck subforum or the Cigar Lounge, as it will also touch on topics deeper than that of playing video games.

I've never liked the idea of categorizing everyone who can use a sword as a Warrior. For example, a Warrior, to me, is a man who lives for the battle, while a Ranger is a character with an affinity for nature and understanding of the world around him. A Paladin is what happens when you cross a Fighter with a Cleric, a man who fights to the death for his God. And let's not even get into all the different classes of spellcasters there are, each with their own unique traits and abilities.

Warriors don't always mean "anyone who can use a sword". There are rogues in games who are able to use lighter swords, so that would suddenly turn them into "warriors" too if "warrior" meant "this guy can use swords". I didn't mean it that way. Warriors are the character classes that are able to deal the most physical damage and wear the best armor at the expense of having less agility and low magic stats. Sword users just happen to fall into that category 90% of the time.

And what about Druids, Bards and Monks? Two of the most interesting characters I've ever read in D&D books come from R.A. Salvatore's Cleric Quintet series. Danica, the Monk, and Pikel, the dwarven Druid, are two incredibly fascinating characters.

Druids and Bards happen to be the wifey's personal picks. I find them interesting as well. Monks rule when used correctly. Believe me, discussion on all of them was only left out of this thread because I didn't want it to turn into a D&D thread when I had already planned on doing one later. This one was meant mainly just for video games and when it comes down to it.... Warrior, Rogue, and Spellcaster are the most basic classes that end up being in games the most.

So, with that bit of introduction out of the way, I'm just going to say I'm not going to follow the three classes you've assigned, and instead pick my own. When I play games, I usually prefer playing as a Ranger, or when playing in games with parties, the Ranger is usually my favorite character. Most Rangers are innately good people at heart, who will follow just laws, and fight evil in any form it takes.

As far as who I'd be in real life, assuming the initial hard work had already been done for me, I would choose a Monk. Lethal with their bare hands, their lives dedicated to discipline, a Monk finds harmony within himself and become the complete master of his own body.

Interesting. I appreciate the input, Sly. Even though you didn't pick from one of the three I mentioned. Take Dragon Age for instance though, you are restricted to three classes that are variations of the very three I mentioned. It isn't the only game out there like that. If you were playing one of those games, which do you usually choose?

 

[Fizzy]

Out of those three classes? I'd choose Rogue as my first playthrough, Warrior as my second, and Mage as my third. I've never been keen on Mages in any game and tend to use them as little as possible unless the AI is decent. I do however, enjoy Bowman and Rangers so it's not like I have anything against ranged classes, just magic users. I do enjoy it when games have many options for your character to choose from instead of the basic three you mentioned.

A prime example of a perfect job system would be Final Fantasy III on the DS. They have so many jobs available and all are fairly good and useful. I'd switch my main character's job around three or four times before finally settling down on one. Usually I enjoyed playing as a viking, a ninja, a monk or a dragoon. They all were very useful and did high amounts of damage. This is the best example I can come up with as a game with a fantastic job system considering it had so many possible jobs to choose from.