Actually, this might be a better question for MMORPG players instead.
I'm not sure.

I'm just wondering what people felt about this type of thing.

Set classes, do people prefer their characters set with a single type of skills to choose from or do people prefer the free choice of learning skills from every type of class?

Like a Black Mage type character can only learn offensive spells.
However, in Final Fantasy 12 your characters could learn every spell. (aside from limit breaks)

Or maybe a MMORPG example would be Shin Megami Tensei Imagine, your character could learn a specific amount of skills but you still had the choice of what to learn.

What do you all prefer?

Personally, I prefered the SMT Imagine style, its probably my favourite Character Class system in all of the MMORPG'S I've played.
Pretty much because you could change your play style almost whenever you wanted.
I liked the limit because it meant you couldn't be the best at something, meaning you had to trade with others to get specific items later on or to party with others to go through difficult areas alive.
I'd like to see this style used in a tactical RPG, it would be interesting to see whether not if it worked well.

Without the limit it would be more convenient to a casual player since you wouldnt need to make more characters to explore more parts of the games potential playing styles.

I guess to some degree, it can be harder to design single player games with a free choice class system.
Like setting out chests with items, if the player chooses a certain set of skills and weapons to use, items in chests can become either life savers or garbage.

Anyway, what kind of system do you prefer?
Free choice to learn anything or fixed to learn only skills related to your class?

I find games that give a more open ended ability to learn skills alot more fun. Its still fun to have a predefined class, but anytime I play one of those games, its always a matter of "Ok, i like this character, but look at everything I have to give up to get him."

So, my vote goes toward skill based.

I'd say this a question which applies to many styles of RPGs, certainly not just MMOs.

There are definitely pro's and con's to both:

Skill-based:
+ A wide variety of play styles available.
+ Near endless combinations of abilities.
+ Great for experimentation.

- Different play styles blur together after a while.
- Very difficult to balance in an MMO setting.
- Can be very hard for the player to master.

Class-based:
+ Defined skills and abilities can lead to a coherent and well-designed experience.
+ Each class has a defined, set role which they excel at.
+ Less learning curve.

- Limited skills can grow stale.
- The "that other class is so overpowered" mindset in MMOs.
- In single-player games, certain classes can be overlooked by a majority of players.



I like both, as I like variety in just about everything I do. Both are fun to experiment and play around with.

I play World of Warcraft, and I love the class system they have. Every class feels unique and powerful in it's own way. With vastly different resource systems and abilities, no two classes are the same at any point past the first 10 levels. And with three specs per class, there really are a heck of a lot of ways to play.

I can't say that one is better than the other, because they both have so much to offer to the player.