Being able to change class without leveling again.

[Alroxas]

Would you enjoy a system where you can change your class just like we can change our talents/spec?

Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No because class is part of the character's identity in WoW. Whereas in FF14, your job doesn't matter because it's so interchangeable.

I have lots of ashes left to make new legendaries on both my characters, but it just rots there

Did you not read the 9.1 patch notes? There's a way to transfer soul ash in 9.1 to alts. Granted it's not 100% efficient but it exists so your soul ash doesn't just "rot" on your main.

If you played FF14 you will know what I mean, it is really well done.

FF14 has different systems and if you find yourself enjoying them more, perhaps then FF14 is the game for you instead of WoW.

[Beastiel]

i feel like class and race are much more intertwined in wow's fantasy where alts is just a better system for the game. Further, it works in final fantasy because there aren't really specs or talents.

Imagine ff14's class change system but after you change classes you have to make sure you're in the right spec and have the right talents and basically all of the simple elegance of ff14's system goes right out the window and what you have is something really cluttered

[schwarzkopf]

This tbh, in the past if I wanted to get an alt, I needed to do 2 things: level and get gear.

... and reputation, and professions (back when they were useful) ... and it took months not a week or two.

[Hellobolis]

honestly i feel like that would just lead to more mandatory class stacking in wow.

your "class" will simply change from a "fire/frost/arcane mage" to a "crit/haste mage/lock/druid", and your guild would want 3-4 players of each stat type instead of 3-4 mages.

[Tradu]

... and reputation, and professions (back when they were useful) ... and it took months not a week or two.

If the only "in the past" you can think of is Classic/TBC, yes. Wrath/Cata had some minor rep grinds for shoulder enchants, but that's about it. It was definitely faster and less restrictive, because the way you improved your alt was by doing the content you wanted to actually do on the alt (raid/PvP). MoP/WoD had the legendary quests, but at least those came from raiding so it wasn't as bad.

OT: I'd be fine with that, I'd still have alts just to have more raid lockouts per week depending on how that would work. I don't really think it's necessary, the actual solution is to stop forcing you to do a bunch of content that you don't want to do. If I want to level a character and raid on it, I shouldn't have to first grind a bunch of mindless world/solo content (most of which is time gated and I'll be permanently behind on if I hit max level late)

[Doffen]

I would like a system where you instantly got to max level when starting a new character cause fuck leveling amirite.

[Varx]

I'm all for an additional class or 1 spec from another class as an extra spec per character. However, All classes is over kill imo. I think class identity and choice is a lot more important in warcraft than it is in FF which is why a middle ground would probably be better.

Alts would still have their benefits like extra mog and mount runs, more gold, mats, bank alts, etc.

But yeah, I would love to play a different class on my main without having to level up and repeat quest lines or worry about all the additional systems.

[aceperson]

the class swapping mechanic from ff14 is my single most favorite feature from that game. you still have to level up each class but you don't need to have a different character for each class. i would certainly tank more in wow if this feature was a thing because my main class is hunter. i like tanking but hunter is always my go to.

[Qnubi]

FF14 has different systems and if you find yourself enjoying them more, perhaps then FF14 is the game for you instead of WoW.

That makes no sense. By your logic I wouldn't be able to play any game because no game is 100% perfect to my liking and other games do something better. I like FF14 Job system but WoWs combat and flow is better. I enjoyed Lotro crafting the most out of all the MMOs I played but it has other shortcomings. No game does everything best, don't lie to yourself unless you have only ever played 1 MMORPG.. Pointing out one feature from another MMORPG that I personally feel is better doesn't mean I should leave for it.

[Krakan]

I wouldn't trust blizzard not to monetize it and then make massive sweeping nerfs every tier to get more class transfer bucks.

This hits to close to home...

[huth]

This tbh, in the past if I wanted to get an alt, I needed to do 2 things: level and get gear. But since last ~3 expansions there are more and more "unlocks" you have to redo on every character, which feels boring, tedious, and ultimately making alts unfun to play.

You've just forgotten the attunements you had to do in the past. They were there, and often even worse.

[Ragedaug]

I would be 100% for it. Granted, I can't ever see this being implemented as the change is too big, it's something I would vote for in a heartbeat if Blizzard was asking.

The main game I played prior to WoW was Runescape, and I loved that I could pick up every profession, and then play whatever role I had gear for. You still have to level up your proficiencies for each role, but I felt way more connected to my Avatar in Runescape then I have ever felt in WoW. In WoW my characters don't reflect me because I have to have so many of them to do all the things I would like to do. One day I log in and I'm Bob the Mage, the next day, Sam the Warrior, then Billy the Hunter. WoW feels more like I'm playing characters rather than "this guy is me". So I've never connected to the Role Play aspect of WoW. I tend to tell my guildies to just use my real name instead of randomly picking one of my character names to call me.

Otherwise, I think tying everyone to one character also resolves the problem of how do we create enough content to keep single-character players happy, while not overwhelming the multi-alts players. In expansions that have been more friendly to Alts, the single-character players get bored fast. Otherwise, when they have enough content to keep single-character players happy, the multi-alt players tend to get overwhelmed.

[Leyre]

I like the design where class choice is actually meaningful

As meaningful as picking whatever is Fotm this patch

[Ragedaug]

Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No because class is part of the character's identity in WoW. Whereas in FF14, your job doesn't matter because it's so interchangeable.

This is the problem IMO. In WoW, the identity is tied to the avatar. In Runescape and FF14 and similar games, the identity is tied to me. In FF14, the avatar I'm playing is me. In WoW, the avatar I'm playing is just one of my characters. They do all their interesting things...but it's not me. It's just some character I play.

[melzas]

As meaningful as picking whatever is Fotm this patch

If you are a sheep then sure. But even then it's more meaningful than what it would be if you could change class on a whim.

[Varx]

This is the problem IMO. In WoW, the identity is tied to the avatar. In Runescape and FF14 and similar games, the identity is tied to me. In FF14, the avatar I'm playing is me. In WoW, the avatar I'm playing is just one of my characters. They do all their interesting things...but it's not me. It's just some character I play.

Which is why having ALL classes available to one character is problematic.

However, perhaps only 1 additional class or 1 additional spec from another class would be acceptable middle ground. There are a handful of lore figures that are at least two classes. I dont see why our character cant train in another class and then just switch by using the class trainers.

[Alroxas]

That makes no sense. By your logic I wouldn't be able to play any game because no game is 100% perfect to my liking and other games do something better. I like FF14 Job system but WoWs combat and flow is better. I enjoyed Lotro crafting the most out of all the MMOs I played but it has other shortcomings. No game does everything best, don't lie to yourself unless you have only ever played 1 MMORPG.. Pointing out one feature from another MMORPG that I personally feel is better doesn't mean I should leave for it.

Go back and re-read my post. I said systems as in plural so not just 1 part of FF14 but rather the whole of FF14.

In other words, if you like FF14 more because of multiple systems/reasons/art direction/story than WoW, maybe you should be playing FF14 rather than WoW.

[huth]

Go back and re-read my post. I said systems as in plural so not just 1 part of FF14 but rather the whole of FF14.

In other words, if you like FF14 more because of multiple systems/reasons/art direction/story than WoW, maybe you should be playing FF14 rather than WoW.

Nah, the problem is that Qnubi went straight from "FF14 might be a better fit for you" to "you should only play games that match your preferences exactly" as if they were the same thing.

[God Save The King]

I am proposing this because while I tried a little bit of FF14 a few years ago, what I really loved was the ability to change my class whenever I felt like it.

I'm not sure if you've played that much of FF14 to be honest. You still have to level and get pretty much unique gear for each job. It's made worse by the lack of a lot of quests, necessitating grinding through dungeons, tower, or world objectives. And leveling in FF14 is pretty slow. I managed to get in on one of those 90 days of 2x exp and with some decent commitment I still only managed to max out a few jobs. The same time in WoW today would easily have been enough to get a max level of each class had I wanted.

The parallel in WoW would be the ability to activate any class on your character, but need to level it from 1 each time. It's functionally the same as alts, but there are some benefits to the FF14 system, such as being able to gear your alt jobs while playing your main job. There are many drawbacks though, such as player expectation, inventory management, lack of things to do on 'alts', and no real 'alt' progression.

[Loveliest]

Yeah but in ff14 you still level. You just keep same char.

But yeah, I would like that. Because frankly i would probably still stick to one main spec but it would give me things to do. I do level alts but i leave them there, I don't play with them because i don't have time to invest in them. So yeah, this way i might actually properly try some other classes.