Hi everybody!
It's been a while since the last HIVE update but, rest assured, we've not been resting on our laurels just playing games (a.k.a. "research") and sipping on espresso (a.k.a. "meetings"). We've been doing a lot to polish the core components of the game and, unfortunately, that doesn't give me a great deal to show you! 
I don't want you to walk away empty handed though so here's a free wallpaper
There was something I wanted to get your opinion on however and that was the profession system in RPGs.
HIVE isn't going to be an overly heavy RPG when it comes to professions however I'm toying with a few different ideas based on games I've played and liked. In short a profession determines what skills you can use, armor you can equip, weapons you can use and base statistic boosters (e.g. vitality, strength). Here are my options:
Unfortunately I haven't been able to make it so that jobs apply character perks wihich span across different professions (i.e. you unlock a 10% defence booster with a warrior level 10. I wanted it so that, if you became a mage, the 10% defence boost was still in effect).That said I HAVE been able to setup another system where, at certain levels, sub professions become available. For example: You start out with a fighter class. Once fighter reaches level 10 you unlock the knight class. Once Knight reaches 15 you unlock the Paladin and Dark Knight classes. Those aren't final names btw, just examples I used to illustrate my point. I wouldn't imagine we'd have more than three levels for each of the starter professions though as I don't want people to get too bogged down in levelling and exploring... sounds silly for an RPG right? Considering that's part of what they're meant to be about! LolAnyway I'd appreciate any thoughts people have. Or even any comments relating to levelling or RPGs in general 
1 Like Hmmm...I'd say option 1 with character design specific to that profession - a la old school Final Fantasy.
@mjc Man I wish this thing'd notify me better! }:[ Didn't even realise you'd commented until just now. The old PM system was great.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm working on a system now that's a mixture. Each character will have a static primary but be able to choose a secondary. Just deciding what traits should carry across (stat boosters and/or skills) and finalising the code.
1 Like But with Optional Profession 2, you'll reset progression if one wishes to change and it will force them to redo/replay content/gameplay to reach where they were with the class they scrapped. Therefore, making it a grind (especially if there isnt optional side content for players to do - DQIX had the content, but didnt have the progressive rewards to make levelling another vocation feel natural).
The only reason dual class systems generally exist in games is for certain skills/stats to carry over to the new one in some form; eg. making a Fighter acquire healing/defensive/support spells for sustained offense, but losing any further benefits that fighter would gain (like more damaging abilities that amount to the same values if it were to change class and gain a heal spell).
@illmatic87 What I was thinking was that the flow on professions would start at a level similar to the preceeding class when they unlocked.
So you level a Knight up to 20 and then can choose a Dark Knight or Holy Knight profession (that's obviously not what they'll be called). Dark Knight has different special skills to Holy however both have a level 1 that is similar to something like a normal Knight's level 15. Make sense?
I've been mucking around and found an easy change I could make to allow for primary/secondary professions too so that's a possibility. Not sure what I want a secondary profession to allow though. I guess I could use it to affect one or more of the following: equipment, stats, skills. Equipment and stats could be good as you could have a mage with a knight secondary profession and equip them in leathers whilst gaining a big defense boost.
I do plan on having a lot of side quest stuff in the game however I wouldn't imagine, for the first game, it would be anything on a Xenoblade or midlife FF level.
1 Like I'm casting my vote for Optional Profession #2. It sounds very similar to the class system of Tactics Ogre, which is the best customisable class system I've ever used.
Having said that, it really depends on the size of the party and the scale of the combat. In Tactics Ogre, it makes sense for the Class to level up instead of the Characters because the party you use functions as a single living organism, with different characters assigned different classes acting as different limbs. So if, for example, you put the time and energy into leveling up the Paladin class it will pay dividends when you come across a battle against an enormous horde of the undead by allowing you to assign the paladin class to units who would have otherwise been at a disadvantage without making them utterly useless.
However, it's a double edged sword. Late game classes, regardless of awesomeness, leave the player with only two options - grind until they're worth using or ignore them altogether (the latter option being the one I took with a few of the twilight-additions to Tactic's Ogre's roster). Also, if it's a game with a central focus on only a half-dozen core playable characters (ala Final Fantasy) then the entire notion of leveling a class as opposed to a character would just be counter-productive.
...and it seems I've typed a great many more words than I'd originally intended. I shall stop at once, but not before making the pun that I'd intended to type two paragraphs ago. :oops:
*ahem*
I think leveling up a profession instead of an individual would make more sense if you're...
HIVE-minded! :D :D :D
1 Like @Taasi23 Thanks man. Appreciate the feedback. Thru the game you control two parties of four so there's not going to be much chopping and changing. My goal was to provide you with incentive to chop and change jobs. TBH I'm not sure if I'm up to that task though. Just getting the elemental effects, enemies, levelling and weapons/armor right are proving a pain! Wish I had access to some Final FAntasy data or soemthing I could just... uh.. borrow to see how they calculate it. Maybe I should've played more die based games as a child!
Anyway I think it could work well but could also break the game if done poorly.
