I grow tired of seeing the same comments over and over. Its always the same replies, you dont want an mmo you want an fps, X mechanic doesnt work in an mmo, or skill based systems are just to hard to implement. I do not really understand why people believe that certain things, no matter how they are implemented, just can not be done or will not be fun.
(X) Mechanic does not work in an MMO
This discussion is mainly focused toward stealth. I love the idea of stealth in an MMORPG and I do not understand why people bash it so. Yes, blizzard can not balance stealth right. No, blizzard is not unique in this. A lot of games have had bogus stealth systems. There are a myriad of ways to create a stealth based system that could function in a balanced way.
I would love to see an aliens vs predator mmo, where players can be any of the three races. Obviously, aliens and predators rely on stealth. An alien with out stealth is a dead alien. Aliens lack any ranged offensive capability, so their reliance on stealth is a two edged sword. Stealth would be an advantage, but this advantage exists to counter their inherent weakness of lacking any ranged combat. It all comes down to how you implement stealth into the game.
Skill based systems are to hard to balance
Why would a skill based system be any harder to balance than a class based system? Where does this myth come from? People do what they see. People copy what works. A majority of the successful games have been class based, so class based is what we get. There are a few games that are hybrids (guildwars, anarchy online). I see no more difficulty in balancing these hybrids as opposed to a class based game. In all seriousness, I have yet to see a game balanced well. So I say again, why would a skill based system be harder to balance?
In a skill based system with player choice the difficulty lies in making all the skills viable (Although I could say the same about a class based system). If all the skills are not viable, players will follow the standard cookie cutter paths as those before them. You end up with a few defined set of skills that players use which might as well be classes. With a huge variety of skills to use that are each effective in their own way, through some means limiting players to a set number of skills, and by allows players choice to determine their advantages and weaknesses, you would have a successful skill based system.
To often enough, most class based systems that I have seen, classes lack several skill options that allow them to differentiate themselves from others of the same class. So the player feels like he is a peon in an army of clones. They also seem to lack real weaknesses that can be exploited during a fight. This destroys the concept of tactics in an mmo. Hunters are a good example in WoW. Hunters minimum shot range was a real weakness to exploit. When fighting a hunter, you would develop several methods of getting into that dead zone. With WoW this is a rare example of weaknesses and tactics. On the flip side you mainly have classes that pretty much fight everyone the same way.
Frost mages are a good example. Summon pet, frost nova take a few steps out of melee range, frostbolt/insta cone of cold for a quick double crit. The only time you cant do this is when a player can break roots, which is every damn class now due to trinkets. Tactic one out the window. Now simply frostnova and cone of cold real fast before they break it (Yes, I am anti trinket, why give advantages to a class then give every damn class the ability to nullify this advantage). You could ponder the tactics of an affliction lock, err not. I had an affliction/demo lock as my main. I pretty much fought everyone the same, fear, run while triple doting, try to fire off a shadowbolt, deathcoil if needed, player is usually dead by now. Did I need different tactics for different players, not really. Any decent warrior/rogue should kill me right off. Everyone else shouldnt even be a fight. No tactics. Bah, i got on a WoW rant. My bad. I appologize :)
