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<blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 7651468" data-attributes="member: 66434">I have found that classes and levels are by themselves neither great nor terrible but intricately linked to overall abstraction level for games that I enjoy. One of the first decisions I try and think about when kicking around ideas for a new game is the overall abstraction level. This informs all kinds of other major decisions such as the granularity and importance of stats, the existence of classes or a skill system and the overall complexity of the system as a whole. Every game needs a main focus to be the foundation of its strength. Some systems place detailed character creation and development at the forefront. Such a system would benefit more fom a highly simulationist, less abstract system. All the little moving parts of the PC will be highly customizable and able to improve individually based on player focus. A class based system would be comparatively clunky for this design goal. A great many flaws that I have run across (and keep in mind that one person's flaw could be some else's selling point!) come from mixed signals at the abstraction level. Either the game is supposedly fairly abstract and attempts to add too much simulationist complexity, or the game is supposed to be complex but fails to cover something fairly important.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ExploderWizard, post: 7651468, member: 66434"] I have found that classes and levels are by themselves neither great nor terrible but intricately linked to overall abstraction level for games that I enjoy. One of the first decisions I try and think about when kicking around ideas for a new game is the overall abstraction level. This informs all kinds of other major decisions such as the granularity and importance of stats, the existence of classes or a skill system and the overall complexity of the system as a whole. Every game needs a main focus to be the foundation of its strength. Some systems place detailed character creation and development at the forefront. Such a system would benefit more fom a highly simulationist, less abstract system. All the little moving parts of the PC will be highly customizable and able to improve individually based on player focus. A class based system would be comparatively clunky for this design goal. A great many flaws that I have run across (and keep in mind that one person's flaw could be some else's selling point!) come from mixed signals at the abstraction level. Either the game is supposedly fairly abstract and attempts to add too much simulationist complexity, or the game is supposed to be complex but fails to cover something fairly important. [/QUOTE]

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