I think that a good imperial class could be something like a pirate, sort of like the end of the bounty hunter campaign, you would be employed by the empire, starting out on Hutta or maybe even a new planet. Anyone else have any suggestions that could shape this a little more?

To start off, your concept is a bit too vague. Unlike Smuggler, the concept of "pirate" within the confines of the Star Wars mythos doesn't have an especially good archetype: piracy is more something that a Mandalorian/BH or Smuggler ends up doing rather than an archetype in and of itself (though it could be said that BHs and Smugglers are simply types of *pirates*, but the point still stands: if your idea is already covered by 2 existing classes, it's too vague to really do something with).

 

Even if you did define "pirate" a bit more, it's important to remember that, in order to justify the effort involved in creating a new class, the concept needs to differ appreciably from any of the existing classes in 3 senses: thematic (i.e. it can't just be a variant of an existing class; "pirate", insofar as most people see it, is just a Smuggler or Bounty Hunter minutely different theme; piracy isn't really appreciably different than the previous 2 professions), mechanical (i.e. it can't just play like a recolored version of an existing class; this generally means different resources, abilities, class gimmicks, etc; just looking for a different weapon loadout doesn't really count since, as far as the game is concerned, all weapon types are functionally the same with only cosmetic differences), and storyline (i.e. you can just make a class and have it do what another class has already done or has ended up doing as part of its primary story; while you can mimic small details, which would be difficult to *not* do considering all of the steps involved in the existing class stories, you can't mimic the grander scope; for example, unless you create a story arc that involves attacking ships in flight, a pirate class is, in all likelihood either going to end up behaving much like the Bounty Hunter or the Smuggler: a privateer/hired gun for doing things that can't otherwise be handled in legitimate ways).

 

Story is, honestly, a reasonably easy construct to get around: as long as you don't functionally write your story into the class name (or, if you do, said story isn't one that's already been done; ex: the Bounty Hunter is about hunting bounties, but no other class does that already so it's not a problem), you can write one that avoids repeating what other classes have already done (it would be hard to write a new story for an SIS Agent or Imperial Trooper that doesn't cover similar ground covered by the existing Agent or Trooper classes, respectively; the oft heard "Treasure Hunter" concept is similarly screwed since "treasure hunting" is something that multiple classes end up doing as part of their stories). Of course, this is also a fuzzy limitation. The class stories have to touch on all of the same planets as the existing classes and there's only so much that can be done on them, so the level of "difference" from existing stories is something of a sliding scale based upon the person.

 

Mechanical uniqueness is, as I see it, most easily accomplished by using a different resource set up, which requires a lot of creativity, especially when you're trying to have it make sense for the given class. I say this because, honestly, unless the resource follows a fundamentally different paradigm than the existing one, you're really just reskinning existing classes, which isn't fun: the story may be different, but the playstyle is still the same. Nothing else really controls playstyle as fundamentally as the given resource.

 

Thematic uniqueness is an interesting problem. It's the reason why we're not likely to see the sometimes mentioned Imperial Officer or Republic Noble classes: yes, they would have different stories than the existing classes and be mechanically unique by creating a separate mechanic, but how is said class really all that different from a Smuggler or Agent? The Agent is already close to the concept of an Imperial Officer (really, the primary differentiation between the Officer concepts that get bounced around and the Agent is that the Officer is conceived as a pet class), and a Noble could *easily* be considered to just be a Smuggler in fancier clothes. It's also why you're not likely to see any new Sith or Jedi classes, new Mandalorians, or anything resembling a Trooper. The existing classes are close enough to that concept that there really isn't a reason to create a separate class. Even if you've got a story that other classes don't touch upon effectively and is mechanically unique, it has to be a set up that couldn't just as feasibly be covered by one of the existing classes with cosmetic changes attached. A basic litmus test for thematic uniqueness would be to look at the other classes and see if you can see them fulfilling that same thematic role without really changing the class itself in any fundamental way (i.e. could you RP an existing class as your new class idea without substantial suspension of disbelief).

Overkill mate

You know, I think I would like a game set in SW where you actually NOT play as a Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith/uber Force user mofo... but instead lesser stronger characters.

 

My reasoning behind this is because Force users in SW should be considered as legendary, one in a billion kind of person, and not your average glowstick weaver that you meet at the corner of every street, simply because the more you see them, the less glowing is the "mythical aura".

 

Coming back the TC question, what I would LOVE to play in SWTOR or in the TOR era is either an Imperial Trooper (love the armor/military philosophy) or Imperial Guard, especially the last one.

 

The Imperial Guard would have 2 sort of ACs: a ranged and a melee one, ranged would use rifle, melee would use techstaff ( I love those kind of melee weapons, I know you can wear them but it doesn't really fit the lore of the current classes).

 

What about the story? Well, I would imagine something like this: the first 10 lvls shows the circumstances of how you join the Imperial Guard, the the second story arc could be about you performing bravery for the GREATER GOOOOOOD (sorry, Hot Fuzz pun) of the Empire and finally the 3rd Act would be some event where you either show how loyal to the Empire you are no matter what, or you choose to defect, kinda like the Crimson Empire comics.

 

 

And that's it, that was my 2 cents for an imaginary class.

Edited March 31, 2013 by yoomazir

You know, I think I would like a game set in SW where you actually NOT play as a Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith/uber Force user mofo... but instead lesser stronger characters.

 

my reasoning behind this is because Force users in SW should be considered as legendary, one in a billion kind of person, and not your average glowstick weaver that you meet at the corner of every street, simply because th more you see them, the less glowing is the "mythical aura".

 

Coming back the TC question, what I would LOVE to play is SWTOR or in the TOR era is either an Imperial Trooper (love the armor/military philosophy) or Imperial Guard, especially the last one.

 

The Imperial Guard would have 2 sort of ACs: a ranged and a melee one, ranged would use rifle, melee would use techstaff ( I love those kind of melee weapons, I know you can wear them but it doesn't really fit the lore of the current classes).

 

What about the story? Well, I would imagine something like this: the first 10 lvls shows the circumstances of how you join the Imperial Guard, the the second story arc could be about you performing bravery for the GREATER GOOOOOOD (sorry, Hot Fuzz pun) of the Empire and finally the 3rd Act would be some event where you either show how loyal to th Empire you are no matter what, or you choose to defect, kinda like the Crimson Empire comics.

 

 

And that's it, that was my 2 cents for an imaginary class.

Yes. Please. This. Imperial Guard like Kir Kanos PLEASE!!!!

You know, I think I would like a game set in SW where you actually NOT play as a Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith/uber Force user mofo... but instead lesser stronger characters.

 

My reasoning behind this is because Force users in SW should be considered as legendary, one in a billion kind of person, and not your average glowstick weaver that you meet at the corner of every street, simply because the more you see them, the less glowing is the "mythical aura".

 

Coming back the TC question, what I would LOVE to play in SWTOR or in the TOR era is either an Imperial Trooper (love the armor/military philosophy) or Imperial Guard, especially the last one.

 

The Imperial Guard would have 2 sort of ACs: a ranged and a melee one, ranged would use rifle, melee would use techstaff ( I love those kind of melee weapons, I know you can wear them but it doesn't really fit the lore of the current classes).

 

What about the story? Well, I would imagine something like this: the first 10 lvls shows the circumstances of how you join the Imperial Guard, the the second story arc could be about you performing bravery for the GREATER GOOOOOOD (sorry, Hot Fuzz pun) of the Empire and finally the 3rd Act would be some event where you either show how loyal to the Empire you are no matter what, or you choose to defect, kinda like the Crimson Empire comics.

 

 

And that's it, that was my 2 cents for an imaginary class.

 

I love this idea, imperial guard would be awesome. But what would the mirror class be?

Republic Ranger, a 'Green Beret' style of soldier answering directly to the Senate (no intermediate, your order come directly from the Chancellor and a special council of representatives). Like a mixture of Trooper and Agent, your entire purpose is to protect the Republic from interior and exterior threats.

Republic Ranger, a 'Green Beret' style of soldier answering directly to the Senate (no intermediate, your order come directly from the Chancellor and a special council of representatives). Like a mixture of Trooper and Agent, your entire purpose is to protect the Republic from interior and exterior threats.

 

Now that the Empire and the Galactic Republic are at war, I'd love it if they introduced the following two classes:

 

I'd like to see a Frontline Trooper class with the following ACs:

 

- Storm Trooper: Specializes in assault, grenades, heavy weapons, and mobile warfare.

 

- Spec Ops Trooper: Specializes in infiltration, sabotage, stealth, and demolitions.

 

Meanwhile, a mirror class for the Pubs, I'd like to see Special Forces with the following ACs:

 

- Infiltration Operator: Specializes in infiltration, sabotage, stealth, and demolitions.

 

- Operations Specialist: Specializes in assault, grenades, heavy weapons, and mobile warfare.

I could definitely see Imperial Guard being a class. The story could be slightly like the BH's, but it would be your job to take out the traitors and enemies of the Empire instead of working for your own personal gain.

What I'd love to see is a melee based class that doesn't use the force, but can choose between techblades and vibroswords or techstaves and elctrostaves. It could also use gadgets similar to the BH for DPS, be more of a support/healing role and buff teamates with stims, or tank with the use of stims.

So... the Echani, basically? http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Echani

What I'd love to see is a melee based class that doesn't use the force, but can choose between techblades and vibroswords or techstaves and elctrostaves.

 

You're not going to see a class that can alternate between techblades/vibroswords and techstaves/electrostaves: the Tech weapons (like techstaves and techblades) always provide Tech Power and the Force weapons (like vibroswords and electrostaves) always provide Force Power. Classes use either one or the other. Alternating between standard weapons and "superior" weapons (i.e. vibroswords and electrostaves) wouldn't really be viable either since they use up the same slots and provide the same stats in every sense, however, superior weapons *always* do more damage (20% higher base weapon damage; translates into 5-10% higher damage with weapon attacks). You would also be requiring double the animations for every ability for said class. One of the primary reasons why many abilities are restricted to certain weapons is because they only made a single animation for the attack that just wouldn't work for others.

 

Mechanically, "variability" either translates into "redundancy" (such as if you provided a passive that increased the base weapon damage of the "normal" weapons by 20% such that they're mechanically identical), "specialization" (such as if you made it so that one spec/stance uses one type of weapon and another uses the opposite), or "false options" (such as if you just provided the option without any kind of modification so that you're given the "choice" of using a better weapon or a worse weapon).

 

There's a reason that weapon loadouts are pretty much standard for each AC: it just works better that way. You don't have to deal with multiple animations except for shared abilities (and, even then, it's not always absolutely required), and you can know exactly what players will use by developer fiat.

So... the Echani, basically? http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Echani

 

What? Someone is talking about an Echani class idea? My ears are burning.