First of all, you need to know what are RPG, MMORPG, PC and NPC.
- RPG: “Role-playing game is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a protagonist immersed in a fictional world.”
- MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game is a mix of two kind of games: role-playing games(RPG) and massively multiplayer online games(MMO), where a lot of players interact with each other in a virtual world.
- PC: A player character or playable character is a character in a RPG whose actions are directly controlled by a player.
- NPC: Non-player characters are the characters that are not controlled by a player.
So what is a “character class”? If you have experience in RPGs then you may know something about it. Assigning each player to a “character class” is a common method to distinguish distinct capabilities. In RPGs, a player usually takes on the identity of a character that may have nothing in common with the player. The character is often a fictional race and class, each with different abilities and attributes. The attributes of the characters (such as magic and fighting ability) are given as numerical values which can be increased as the players levelling up through experience points, usually by means of completing quests or fighting enemies. Classes are very common in fantasy games and usually there are two general classes: combat and magic. Combat classes excel in combat skills and melee abilities. Magic classes are able to perform different kinds of magic.
Lets take Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn as an example:
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
The five playable races : Roegadyn, Miqo'te, Lalafell, Hyur and Elezen.
Classes are divided into four disciplines:
- Disciples of War: masters of physical combat;
- Disciples of Magic: practitioners of the magical arts;
- Disciples of the Hand: crafters and handymen who synthesize and repair items;
- Disciples of the Land: gatherers who collect resources from the environment. (Source: wikipedia)
Available job classes: Paladin, Monk, Warrior, Dragoon, Bard, White Mage, Black Mage, Summoner and Scholar.
Square Enix's Final Fantasy is one of the games that feature job classes and of course Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has it too! It allow players to switch from a class to a job(for example from Archer to Bard) and take on the appearance of the set character class function without being penalized for the role change. Also, in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn players can just change their class by changing the weapon, which means you can just have one character and take all the classes you want! Personally I like it and I think it’s quite convenient.
Can you just take a job class right away? nah... you have to train first! There are some specific requirements in order to choose a job class, obviously it depends on which job class you want to take. Players can unlock jobs by having one of the corresponding classes to level 30 and another class to level 15. For example: to unlock Bard, you need to have a level 30 Archer and a level 15 Pugilist.
As FFXIVARR WIKI described: “Bard is a job that specializes in buffing their allies with songs and other enchantments. Bard improve upon the class archer through the addition of group buffs. Bards have all the abilities and traits of Archers. They can also use all the cross-class abilities of Pugilist and lancer. The most important stat for the bard is dexterity, which increases attack power. The level of your Bard is equivalent to that of your Archer.” If you are interested in and want know more about Bard, please see this page: http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Bard
If you want to know the specific requirements for unlocking other jobs such as Paladin, Monk, Warrior, Dragoon, White Mage, Black Mage, Summoner and Scholar, please refer to this page: http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Jobs
My main job class is a Bard and I will sing for you if you ran out of MP or TP! :) In the mean time I am also experiencing on White Mage, Scholar, Summoner and Thaumaturge.
(My Bard, level 50)
(My Scholar with her pocket healer EOS! level 35)
(My little Thaumaturge, level 15)
- Ellyn
