Okay, so I'm going to present some class ideas. I want you guys to share if you think these are fun and if they can be balanced well. The idea, is that they will all exist in the same game.

AoE/Trap-Based DPS Class - Magic Version: Runemaster - Tech Version: Engineer

This is a class based around the idea of placing runes or devices on the ground that have a given damage or hold effect. Perhaps they are runes that freeze anyone who steps on them in place, or pylons that tazer anyone who gets to close. Perhaps they are land mines, perhaps they are triggers for fire spells. In any case, they player places these objects on the ground, or on a wall, and then must strategize to get others to step on them. Perhaps they surround enemies with these runes before attacking with a weak default ranged attack, to encourage them to move. Perhaps they place some down in a row and then try to train/kite enemies over them. Perhaps they rush into the fray and place some runes down to hold or damage enemies while working with a group. Perhaps lay down a trap to delay/hold enemies if they are being chased. Or all of the above. In any case, it would be a new playstyle, one that required new ways of thinking, relying on trap chains and trap circles, moving about the battlefield skillfully, and controlling a conflict before it starts.

Incorporeal Summoning mechanic Control Class - Magic Version: Incarnate - Tech Version: A.I.

This is a class based around the idea that the character doesn't have a body. They are incorporeal, and may travel the world in that form, able to communciate, but not able to directly affect much, but provide recon and simple healing/repairs. There would be an ability for them to fuse with NPCs, whether they be monsters or robots or thugs or what have you. In this way, the Incorporeal character would be able to remove that NPC from the fight as well as use it as a summon, until it is destroyed, or the effect/manifestation/hack/possession wears off. Bosses would be pretty much immune, but perhaps they might leap into a mob in a group and begin taking out the foes from within. Perhaps they might scout ahead/around and find all the goodies and baddies on the map. Or perhaps they would hop from mob to mob, leaving them stunned for that moment as their teammates attack. Or perhaps they'll take the time it takes to hack into/break a miniboss and use that character to join the team. Perhaps they'll even fuse with a character, which would double that character's mana and regeneration and both players would be able to use that character's moves simultaneously (making them doubly effective). In any case, it'd be a new playstyle that revolved almost entirely around what enemies they were facing.

Remote Pet Support Class - Magic Version: General/Deity - Tech Version: Commander/Director

This class is a pet class that works at ridiculous range. This player is able to summon pets and send them with other players, and command them remotely, so that the actual character is, eventually, never actually in the field of danger. They still suffer the consequences of death whenver their squad is killed, though, and they run the risk of their 'home' being compromised, in which case, they have no attacks to defend themselves with. Perhaps they spend their energy/mana/resources sending out one powerful operative to tank for their teammates. Perhaps they spend it fielding a few dozen mobs to battle their enemies' mobs. Perhaps they use their resources to drop supplies/power ups to teammates. Perhaps they go personally to the battle so that they can carry more troops with them than they can send. Perhaps they choose targets on the map and these 'commands' give anyone who attacks them bonuses to their attack. Perhaps they choose defensive positions, and anyone who stays there gets bonuses to defense. Perhaps this buffs that are orders in the storyline are how they command their otherwise AI troops. It would be a new playstyle, that relied on pure strategy in order to take limited resources and win in various conditions and circumstances.

Mount Based Tank Class - Magic Version: Dragon - Tech Version: MechaVehicle

This class is a mount that is playable by players. This means it can be used to move around very quickly, and can transport other charaters with it. They also would be very durable, resulting in their tanking abilities. They would be a bit large, but not completely to scale that it'd be hard to see other players around them. They'd also have collision detection, so that the middle of the battlefield doesn't get too crazy. The end result is, everyone is trying to kill the dragon, so the wizard on the team can get hits in. Perhaps the PC mount will do run bys, have the mobs chasing it, perhaps it'll just sit in one spot and park, saying bring on the pain. Perhaps it will act as a mobile turret, where ranged characters can sit and concentrate on attacking, and not have to worry about moving or protecting themselves. It would be a new playstyle, and a very different take on moving through the world that could be quite interesting. They would be second class citizens in a way, meeting in the parking lot instead of in front of the city hall, for instance, but players would have abilities, and a role in the community, that is unique.

Pure Healing Class - Magic Version: LifeMage - Tech Version: Physician

This class heals. That's what it does. It heals teammates, it resurrects them. It has the quirky ability to resurrect enemies, for diminishing returns on XP, if they do a different rezzing ability. They can transfer life from enemies into allies, including themselves, as their main attack, and even take life away with a touch as one of their more powerful abilities. This is not a new playstyle, of course, but it is an extreme version of a very old very classic playstyle, that many people love. Perhaps players will play it as a typical group healer, managing mana and prioritizing targets. Perhaps they'll use some of the more esoteric healing abilities, like turning themselves into a stationary healing ward, or creating short lived healing potions on the fly, or giving life to diseases to kill mobs over time. Perhaps they'll rez enemies as zombies that attack both sides.

Tankmage DPS Class - Magic Version: MageKnight - Tec Version: PsiSoldier

This class does it all, and though they have buffs, and some heals, and plenty HP, all these things are geared to their own survivability and empowerment, though there are some spillover effects to others because the tankmage is 'so powerful,' it always results mainly in the character being even more capable. They can use any weapon, any elemental spell. They basically represent the trinity in one toon, that is capable of doing what any other MMO character has done, but not capable of doing what these new classes do with traps, rez enemies, manifestations, remote support, being a mount and so on. It's an old playstyle. Perhaps the player will kite with his bow. Perhaps he'll wade in the middle and cast out buffs. Fortunately, they don't get any more mana than anyone else, so they can't do it all at once.

So that's my list for now. Let me know what you think.

Originally posted by Hype

 

Incorporeal Summoning mechanic Control Class - Magic Version: Incarnate - Tech Version: A.I.

This is a class based around the idea that the character doesn't have a body. They are incorporeal, and may travel the world in that form, able to communciate, but not able to directly affect much, but provide recon and simple healing/repairs. There would be an ability for them to fuse with NPCs, whether they be monsters or robots or thugs or what have you. In this way, the Incorporeal character would be able to remove that NPC from the fight as well as use it as a summon, until it is destroyed, or the effect/manifestation/hack/possession wears off.

I like this one very much.  I think it's gone now, but Priests in WoW had a mind control ability that sort of worked like this.  A pure DPS class with ability to posses and control an enemy sounds like great fun.

Ai seems tempting at first.   However you can't underestimate the advantage of free intel

Originally posted by anemo

Ai seems tempting at first.   However you can't underestimate the advantage of free intel

Yeah, but if they are incorporeal "how do you STOP them?".

Do you have to kill whatever they inhabit in order to slow them down in any way? What happens if they refuse to inhabit something and let that happen? Can you attack their ghost form (simplest ideal)?

"Don't cross the streams."

Why can't there be Incorporeal/Virus busters?

Originally posted by Caldenfor

Why can't there be Incorporeal/Virus busters?

As a class, ability, piece of gear or consumable?

(We really need more options...)

I have other questions too, while I'm at it.

1) The AoE/Trap based class more along the lines of Tecmo's Deception / Trapt, or a Hunter ala (insert example here)?

2) Does the Healer class only heal, and can't fight back? Does the enemy ressurection thing aim at world-mob homeostasis ala Waku?

3) Are you a mount-type 24-7 if you play one? It doesn't seem to lend well to either character-immmersion or travel speed (in some cases).

Thanks for the replies guys!

It does sound like the AI class is pretty overpowered. The idea is that you can't stop them, but if you kill off what they're inhabiting, they can't hurt you in any way. There could certainly be some anti-incorporeal damage types, esepcially for rune masters or whatever, but the idea is that without corpreal assistance, they become a non-issue. Adding in some indicators so that enemies know what they're trying to hack next could be useful as well. Limiting or eliminating their incorporeal support abilities may be necessary to ensure balance.

To answer GTWander's other great questions

1) They are meant to be more along the lines of a Hunter, or a WoW Shaman that puts down AoE flag thingies.

2) The Healer Class only heals. The idea is to make them even more capable healers without any significant attacks, and then balance for that. They would have 'healing' attacks, such as buffing the bacteria you have, or buffing the plants in the ground to grow and trap you, or doing Zombie-rezzing - which would be a cheap summon basically, zombies wouldn't live long enough to infect the world or anything like that. Overall, these are meant to be a pretty random (ranged, trap, summon) set of offensive abilities that only skilled players can solo with. On a side note, there might also be some synergistic two-person healing abilities that would encourage including multiple healers in a group.

3) Yes, the idea would be that you are a mount 24/7 if you play one. In the sense of character immersion, yes, it is odd to imagine oneself as a quadruped, and time consuming to create necessary animations and emotes to allow characters to socialize these avatars. Perhaps the idea won't work in reality for those reasons, but that is the idea. With a tech version, it is even more difficult to create that emotional connection. I mean, I love KITT, but not that much. In that case, it might be better to have MechaVehicles be more like transformers, with a vehicle mode and a bipedal mode. 

Not sure how that could be a problem for travel speed though, as the intention of the class would be explicitly that they have unmatched travel speed.