About the World of Warcraft classes

Did you know that if you pick one of the nine classes in World Of Warcraft, you conform yourself to one of the five basic archetypes in a five-man band?

Seriously:

-The druid is the hero, because he's the jack-of-all-trades. -The rogue and hunter are lancers, because one's stealthy while the other is ranged. -The warrior and paladin are big guys, because they can absorb lots of damage with their bulks. -The mage and warlock are the smart guys, because they're spell-casters. -The priest and shaman are the chicks, because they heal.

Same goes for class-based shooters like Modern Warfare 2, Battlefield Bad Company, Medal of Honor, and Team Fortress 2:

-The hero use a well-balanced assault rifle. -The lancer uses stealth to go along with his pistol, submachine gun, and sniper-rifle. -The big guy uses a light-machine gun, a shotgun, and an RPG-launcher. -The smart guy is often the mechanical repair-man and/or ordnance-expert. -The chick heals people with medkits as well as buff them with adrenaline.

So what do you think? Pretty neat analysis, huh?

I think you just kicked in an open door, really.

What is this I don't even

cool story bro

And it doesn't work, paladins and warriors are the hero archetype. Warriors because they're the tanks and paladins because they're all about goody ness and all that nonsense.

Most of the classes can serve different archetypes, and the archetypes themselves don't necessarily fall into the five man band roles anyway (Why can't a healer be the smart guy? The tank the chick?). This whole thing is generally just meaningless.

Edit: Also, there are 10 classes.

edited 27th Oct '10 6:38:38 AM by Clarste

I don't see why none of you agree with me.

I think each class fits one of the five archetypes, even if you disagree with me.

Okay.

Death Knight is the Sixth Ranger.

But seriously, I'm not sure if you're earnest or trolling, but this stuff is A) highly subjective, and B) already discussed at length previously, I'm sure. World Of Warcraft has been around for years, and it's not like its tropes are suddenly razor-fresh.

You've been edit warring this nonsense into the main World Of Warcraft article. It's as useless there as it is here. Keep it up and you'll find yourself on the business end of a modstick.

If you really want to discuss it, character classes do not define Five-Man Band roles. Those are characterization roles, having nothing to do with the character's class or profession. The proper header for this stuff is An Adventurer Is You, which already has an entry for WoW.

edited 27th Oct '10 12:07:57 PM by Fighteer

Personally, I find it weird to think like that because I know the other players primarily as people from hearing them on Vent all the time. So the healers seem more like sarcastic Smart Guys who threaten silliness with death because your life is in their hands, the tanks are thoughtful Heroes trying to bear the burden of the raid while the caster Lancers accuse them of holding them back. And the melee are just Dumb Muscle who do what they're told without understanding. There's more role solidarity than there is class solidarity.

Well, that's just my personal experience, and I feel its rather silly to dwell on it.

edited 27th Oct '10 12:07:28 PM by Clarste

Like I said, Characterization Tropes don't apply to character classes, especially in an MMO. They can't, by design. In MMORPG terms, every single player is The Hero, or occasionally The Lancer if an NPC takes the lead. It's hard to imagine someone having fun playing The Chick, and there isn't enough intelligence in the scripted interactions for anyone to be The Smart Guy.

edited 27th Oct '10 12:53:10 PM by Fighteer

I was applying them to the people playing the classes. Basically my guild.

Well, sure, but that's at a meta level that has nothing to do with the tropology of the game. It's also highly subjective and personal.

another problem with classiification comes from two other issues.

One, especially on roleplay servers, you can have both staff chick resto druids and smarmy smart guy resto druids. Its all in how you view your personal character.

Two, each class has 3 specs. A retribution or protection paladin is defenitely the leadery hero type, a Holy paladin is more of a support member of the team.

NPC Paladins tend to be The Hero. PC Paladins, except on RP realms, are The Guy Who Kills Things With Holy Magic.

NPC Mages can be The Smart Guy or (in Jaina's case) The Chick. PC Mages, except on RP realms, are The Guy Who Kills Things With [Arcane/Frost/Fire] Magic.

NPC Warriors can be The Big Guy or The Lancer. PC Warriors, except on RP realms, are The Guy Who Kills Things With Big Weapons.

See the point? Now you can assign tropes like Lightning Bruiser, Mighty Glacier, Squishy Wizard, etc., because those apply to roles and characteristics that are definable in terms of game mechanics. But Five-Man Band is not defined in terms of game mechanics; you need actual characters.

Everything you said is all your opinion, and I have a right to my own opinion.

Right to your own opinion, yes, but it sounds like you've been trying to force your ideas into the World Of Warcraft trope page, which would be putting your own opinions as fact. I'm not a mod, of course, so I suppose that there isn't much I can do/say on the matter anyway.

^^ It's not opinion, it's definition. You're trying to apply character tropes to things that aren't characters. You say shaman are The Chick, for example. Okay, three of the most notable shaman in Warcraft off the top of my head are Thrall, Vol'jin, and Drek'thar. Of those three, Thrall is the only one who comes even remotely close to that trope, and he's still closer to both The Hero and The Smart Guy.

Some of your reasons for assigning roles to classes don't make any sense, either. You say druids are The Hero because they're jacks of all trades, but that has nothing to do with the trope, nor does being ranged fighters qualify hunters to be The Lancer. You might be able to make a case for rogues, but being stealthy has nothing to do with it.

Is it possible for a paladin to be at Straw Nihlist? Maybe even a good one albeit a not "paladinish" paladin?