Okay, let's think about what "class" means in PSO2.
Weapons are supposed to be based on class, but there are ways to get around that.
So, what's unique to "class"?
- Leveling EXP.
- Class-based titles, orders, etc.
- Base stats.
- Skill Trees.
- Probably something else I've forgotten.
Most classes have several skills that can be applied to other classes.
This allows for interesting mix and matching, for more gameplay depth.
Players can then experiment and find their own playstyle.
Now, let's look at Summoner.
Summoner pets are main only. So you can't experiment with other classes + pets.
Even if you could, pets are tied to Baton. You can't switch to other weapons without Pets being desummoned.
On top of this, Summoner seems lacking in skills that benefit other classes. Most of its skills are "main class only". Far more than any other class.
And many skills that benefit other classes have no effect on Summoner.
Thus, Summoner is much more "isolated" from the other classes. That means Summoner only has about as much depth as Summoner itself.
Let's look at how Summoner is designed.
The pets are essentially long range weapons. Many of their attacks are very simliar to existing attacks from other weapons.
I don't think Summoner combat playstyle offers much in terms of gameplay. It's essentially the same thing - use PAs and Skills at the right times for higher damage.
What's really unique to Summoner is the whole pet raising thing. Which is also strange, because it again isolates itself from the game's traditional mechanics.
Pets don't have affixing and weapon grinding, they have Candy. They don't have weapon potentials, they have pet personalities.
It's esssentially the same stuff repackaged. So I don't think Summoner is so much "unique" as it's "isolated".
Lately, game devs have been restricting/limiting many possibilities, for easier balancing or to avoid bugs/issues.
Many games nowadays are designed with the intent of forcing every player to have nearly the exact same experience.
Sadly, this ends up making everything a hell of a lot more simple, shallow and boring.
I'm not a fan of this mindset. I was looking forward to the possibilities of using pets alongside other weapons.
I really hope Summoner isn't the beginning of a trend, where each new class is something nearly completely separate from everything else in the game.
If your primary concern is that the classes aren't unique enough, that's a PSO2 design issue.
They could have come up with ways to integrate pets with other classes whilst keeping Summoner unique in itself.
They took the simpler, easier route. That's why I think I have the right to refer to their design as "stupid".
I'm also not the only person who feels that implementing a subclass system and then phasing it out is a stupid decision.
I personally think it's "stupid" to unnecessarily or excessively simplify and restrict possibilities.
Good game devs/designers are capable of coming up with interesting, deep mechanics for players to freely mess around with.
I can somewhat understand if there are unavoidable serious technical limitations, but I think PSO2 already suffers from so many of those limiltations.
PSO2 Episode 4 calls itself "Reborn". They're redoing the visuals, yes. But they could have redone a lot more.
If I recall correctly, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn is a complete overhaul and very different from the original game.
I guess PSO2 doesn't need to do go that far because it wasn't such an epic failure that nobody was playing it.
Originally Posted by Megidolaon
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