"Personally I like the fact that the Runemage has the most versatility… Runemages are magicians, who should be able to do anything you can do with magic, at any point. It’s magic.
I think it’s important that we don’t try and instill the same abilities on to the other classes. Otherwise the musketeer will have 20 orbs that can float around, the ranger will have a dozen different arrows they need to learn etc. It simply doesn’t make sense for everyone to be able to do everything."
I both agree and disagree with you on this. In reality, everyone IS able to do everything, they are just bound by what weapon they are currently holding. This is something that sets OrbusVR apart from other MMOs. A “Warrior” class character in WoW can’t cast a single spell. But if a warrior in Orbus puts away his sword and picks up a wand, he can cast any spell he knows the basic runes for. In my mind, this essentially means that every character is a magic adept, all are magicians. A Runemage requires a wand to do their magic. A Musketeer requires a gun. The wand and the gun/bow/shield/sword are the vessels through which the character is able to channel their magic ability. When a warrior taunts an enemy to gain aggro, is he just yelling at the monster to get its attention, or is he essentially casting a mind control spell that commands that monster to pay attention.
When you say that the Runemage has the most versatility and should be able to do anything with magic, that makes every other class seem like second-class citizens. It if were true, a Runemage could simply summon a sword and heavy armor and function as a Warrior. I do think it is important to separate the class abilities, but I also think it is important keep the Runemage from being the most versatile just “because they can use magic”. Without a wand, a Runemage is unable to perform any magic at all.
Following what I read about the first Alpha playtest, I was actually worried about this. It seemed like the Warrior especially was a boring class. The Runemage has 30+ spells to learn and perform. The Ranger has different arrow types and other abilities. The Musketeer has their different Orbs and Turrents. The Warrior gets to swing a sword and teleport around slamming his shield into the ground and into monsters to protect the other players. The only way to modify the damage done is to swing the sword further on each strike. Seems like every other class gets much more dynamic gameplay.
However, given that Riley has stated that they are planning a full rework for each of the other classes in future Alpha tests that the Runemage just received, I am hopeful that the Warrior will get some more dynamic gameplay options. I’m personally hoping that warriors receive the ability to do “flourishes”, almost like drawing their own melee combat runes, but with a sword instead of a wand. Maybe swinging the sword around your head charges magic energy to imbue your next strike with more damage. Banging your sword into your shield imbues your next strike with extra threat. Stabbing your sword into the ground gives it Earth Elemental damage, while stabbing the sky imbues your sword with lightening. Button presses would likely be required to make these flourishes intentional and distinct from random flailing, but I feel like the potential is there to turn the warrior into something more than a teleporting shield and threat holder for the other classes.
I have no idea if my “everyone is actually doing magic” theory fits with the official lore planned for Orbus VR, but it is what makes the most sense to me and the direction that I hope the development is moving.