"Advanced Classes = Fundamentally Different Class Designs"

Ac switching as easily as changing talents will eventually happen, they just say "no" for now because from a money making perspective it's still better for them to have people pay for more gametime and reroll a different spec of the same class (because yeah, that's what they are).

From a gameplay perspective, however, ac switching should have been there since day 1. It doesn't affect the gameplay in any negative way, only positive ones, especially for small groups of guilds/players. It's just an option and people who want to roll 100 characters can do so regardless.

No one can change the devs mind on this. They simply think they make more money this way for the aforementioned reasons, so until at least a few months have passed and everyone has 4-5-6 50s, they won't allow ac switching. But when those conditions will be met, they will, because from a functionality standpoint it makes no sense whatsoever to not be allowed to change ac just as you change your spec.

Everyone fooling her/himself into thinking there's any other reason other than money behind the devs stance, like, they're some sort of holy crusaders who think that is evil to change ac because it's a different class and such thoughts have to be purged with fire by the righteous, and prides her/himself for being on "the devs' side" is delusional.

Give it time, and it will happen, no matter what the insane roleplayers/community people have to say on the matter.

Cross server, dual spec, dungeon tool, color crystals come to mind. If it makes sense from a gameplay/functionality/convenience standpoint, it will happen. Unless money dictates otherwise of course.

There are certian things that just destroy the ability to be different in an MMO.. AC switching is one such thing.. Not only does it cut the number of classes in half.. But people will be expected to maintain the tank or healing spec available to them above the spec they really want to play for their own enjoyment.

Personally (and this is just speculation) I believe that Legacy will open up the possibility to roll a new AC with accelerated XP, or maybe at a high starter level. Either way it would just require doing the class quest and not much else.

However, it would require having a level 50 character of that same base class on your server. So if you have a 50 vanguard you'd be able to get this benefit on a new commando, but not a new jedi knight.

It could be sorta like how Death Knights are handled in WoW.

Just a thought...

Generally when evaluating who's out to lunch on a particular issue, I look at who appears to be more intellectually dishonest or clueless. This applies just about everywhere. When one side is misrepresenting the other's arguments, using bad argumentative tactics such as oversimplification, slippery-sloping, appeals to authority, and the like, it's usually a clue as to who's either on the wrong side of history or simply the wrong side of the argument.

I'm finding the pro-AC-respec camp to be the more intellectually honest here. The amount of straw men being set up by the other side could consume the entire hay-producing capacity of the Midwestern United States.

Warlocks and mages both are casters, use mana, wear the same gear, use the same stats , are strictly DPS as a role, and nobody argues they aren't the same class.. I fail to see how anyone in this game can use basic simularities as a basis to say that the AC's are not classes..

So assassination combat and subtlety rogues all play the same then? By your logic they are all different classes as well.

2-3 hours of time is a short time in comparison to how long and how many hours we will be playing this game.. So again, I fail to see the basis in complaining about it.. WOW never allowed class changes.. I don't remember seeing to many people asking about it either.. The only real difference was, you chose your class at lvl 0 during character creation and not lvl 10.. I would guess that if we chose our AC during character creation, we wouldn't have to entertain this meaningless arguement all the time.. This wouldn't have become a product of 'We got Bioware to agree to dual speccing, what else can we get??'.. You just have to love the slippery slope mentality.. It has destroyed many a MMO's..

Ah the old 'game begins at 50' idea. Hell, who cares if a class isn't viable until 50? You'll spend more time at max level than you did getting there!

Dual spec is a horrible idea as well by that logic-pick a role and stick to it. Why should your character be able to change his/her focus with one click?

Druids and Paladins really didn't harm WOW until dual speccing and LFG was implemented.. It was much easier to find a group on my Paladin as a tank or healer than it was on my lock.. I can even remember denying some DPS classes on the off chance of needing another tank or healer.. Countless people, like my wife were pushed to different specs that they really didn't want to play.. "ShadowAura' a priest my wife created.. Always destined to be a Shadow priest, hence the name.. Over 90% of the time was a holy priest instead..

There are certian things that just destroy the ability to be different in an MMO.. AC switching is one such thing.. Not only does it cut the number of classes in half.. But people will be expected to maintain the tank or healing spec available to them above the spec they really want to play for their own enjoyment..

So you admit to punishing players for playing dps classes because you expected them to change roles, then complain that your wife was expected to do that very same thing? How about she got some assertiveness training and said 'I am not a healer'? Barring that she could have rolled a warlock if she wanted DoT-based damage.

BTW how do dual spec and respecs help you maintain your difference if people apparently still expect you to play a role your class is capable of but you don't enjoy? I assume you argue against them as well for destroying choice and freedom?

The number of classes is already cut in half-a sage and shadow have the same story and same companions, despite being 'totally different'.

During the time of BC.. It didn't matter if you were a Paladin or a druid.. You still had just one spec and you were whatever you were.. Guilds made do with that reality.. All these so called wonderful conveniences that were supposedly going to make WOW easier and more fun actually distroyed it in many ways.. A cross server LFG destroys the need for a guild.. Why join a guild when you can just push a button and be placed into a group?? I sat and watched people leave my old WOW guild to the point where we didn't have enough people to regularly do a 10 man raid.. All thanks to the LFG system they added.. If you were a tank your wait time was almost none existent, healers would sometimes have about 10 to 20 minutes, and my lock could often still have over an hour to get into a group.. In some cases it was better to just pug..

As I have said, there is absolutely no reason to allow AC switching.. It would destroy and limit this game.. I fail to see how anything that would limit this game is a good thing..

No. You don't get it. Educate yourself on the topic before posting.