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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6091649">Specifically the problem is not that we need a cleric in the party.  The problem is if we need a HEALING cleric in the party.  Over the years it's been shown that Clerics can be used to create all sorts of interesting characters, a great many of them don't heal at all, or if they do it's a very minor, side-aspect to their character design.  I've run healer-less parties.  It can be rough, but there's a careful balancing act to it.  The problem with needing a healer is that it basically means "the game is designed to put out more of a beating than characters are designed to handle."  and I really don't think that's a positive direction to base game design in.  It's really easy to up the ante, it's much harder to tune it down.  The game should not assume someone is rolling a primarily healing/support class because that means the game also assumes that the other roles are being strictly filled, even if they're not explicitly outlined.  The Heavy-armor fighter becomes the defender, the high-damage wizard becomes the striker, the skillful rogue becomes the monkey, and so on and so forth.  By demanding the need for one role, you demand the need for all of them, and your design focuses on when people "do their roles" and ignores or outright shames people who multi-task, do not specialize, or want to play something that doesn't fit in the square hole.It's the "holy trinity" design that I find so annoying in games these days.  You NEED a healer, you NEED a tank, you NEED strict DPS.  Anything outside that system the game isn't designed to handle, which basically means you can't play it.So while I'm fine with providing a method of play wherein a healing/support class is required(which really just means bumping up the damage of NPCs by a few points), I sincerely hope that DDN does not run on a "holy trinity" design.</blockquote>

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