GRATS! There’s no CC in real life!?!

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We’ve heard and seen it all before: the basic triad of class roles for group dynamics in almost every single MMO. That is the basic triad of Tank, Healer, and DPS. The tank’s roles being the one to take damage and control aggro, the DPS’ job to output as much damage as possible on the intended target, and the healer to keep everyone alive with healing magics. This is nothing new.

Every MMO seems to follow this mechanic. Even if they never intended to follow this mechanic in the first place, their classes always seem to end up being reduced to one of those key three roles. Of course many classes can swap between roles, but it is still within that holy MMO trinity of constraints.

But where did this mechanic come from? Some game designers way back when the first MMOs started? This trio certainly didn’t come from real life fights. To be honest, the concept of a person trying to taunt every single “mob” to attack him and not his friends seem ludicrous when in a real life situation and not very practical. I’ve been in a few fights in my time (not that I’m saying it is a good thing here, people!) and most of them ended up being just one big free-for-all where each person looked out for themselves and did the best they could. There’s no armor. There’s no magic. And, in the at least fair fights, there isn’t even any weapons.

To think of the triad mechanic in real life, seems rather funny to me. Completely improbable for a real life situation, unless of course you’re one of those LARPers: (LIGHTNING BOLT!! LIGHTNING BOLT!!)

It’s ironic that when you compare PVE style combat to PVP combat it’s starkly different. PVP fights are actually more like a real life fight. Everyone is out for themselves and each player has to have their own set of “tricks” to get them out of messy situations. The fights are most times unpredictable and makes for an exciting play-style if you know your class well. Arena fights in WoW are crazy nuts and if you’re not constantly pushing yourself to the limits of your class, you will utterly fail.

What if MMOs followed that real life PVP model? What if each and every player has to fend for themselves in a fight? Rather than one massive Boss monster there were several higher AI monsters that a group would have to contend with. There have been a few examples where this was the case. Magister’s Terrace in World of Warcraft was a prime example where it threw the boss “tank and spank” model out the window. Each fight had to be planned out, crowd control was needed, and each player had to be ready to fight mano-e-mano with a mob. The Observations Grounds fight was especially challenging as there were a random collection of monsters and their aggro tables were pretty much non-existant. The fight always ended up playing out as one big mosh-pit, similar to an arena fight.

Star Wars: The Old Republic claims to follow this same technique as well. Rather than the usual encounter with one massive monster, the group slowly chipping away at it until it runs out of health, SWTOR claims it will have more encounters where groups face large numbers of enemies. In theory it would mean each player would potentially have to fight it out against waves of enemies, often relying on their own skills to survive.

Frankly, this asks a question we’ve been asking for a long time now. What would happen if the triad of Tank, Healer, and DPS was discarded? What if each playable class in an MMO had the potential to be both Tank and Healer at the same time. Able to withstand damage, deal damage, and even boost/heal one’s health? Essentially in a given fight, everyone would be responsible for all three roles. Sure, you’d have some classes better at a given role over others, but each class could cover all three in some form or other. Makes for an interesting playstyle.

In a way, I see MMOs already going down this path. In World of Warcraft, most of the classes can fit at least two roles and some, like the Druid, can actually play all three roles if geared and talent specc’d properly. Having played a druid myself, there was never a dull moment or a burn-out moment as I would sometimes get with other classes. Having the ability to step into any role and pushing those limitations was a great thing in my opinion. The only drawback to this was I’d have to switch specs, change gear, or even hit a class trainer to reset all my talents.

The key I’m getting at is being able to do all this on the fly. Please note, I’m not at all talking about some “super Hero class” that can perform all three roles at once. Heck no. What I’m talking about is being able to survive a fight using your own skills and abilities without having to completely rely on another to heal you or taunt off aggro. Being able to go toe-to-toe with your enemy and then, once he’s down, move on to the next enemy or help out some of your buddies in the fight. Inevitably, fights will end up becoming more dynamic, faster in duration, and ultimately, more fun and exhilarating.

At least I would like to think so. Some people like the safety and security of the triad. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just like to mix it up once and awhile and have a good mosher every now and then in my games.

Interested in getting updates on the next GRATS! posting? Follow Rackham on twitter at: @rackhamgreg