A Multiclassing Rumor

Not really the subject of the next expansion, but a potentially huge mechanical change that seems to be making its rounds in the rumor mill is the idea of adding some kind of multiclassing feature to World of Warcraft.

Multiclassing does have precedent in RPGs. For example, in Dungeons and Dragons (5th edition, which is the only one I've looked in to - still trying to figure out peoples' schedules to get my game going,) you can basically choose when you level up to level up as another class - so a 7th level character could be a level 3 Fighter and a level 4 Warlock. There's some mechanics in place to ensure that you aren't totally handicapping yourself by doing so, but you do sacrifice some of the potential late-level abilities and spells in order to mix and match.

This is not how I'd imagine WoW would handle it. D&D is a much more flexible game, given that rather than having to program things in, the dungeon master can adjust on the fly. It's a game in which combat plays a large role, but is only one of the many things you do. WoW, on the other hand, needs to be tightly balanced and can't really allow a class to be "not as good at combat, but really great at interacting with townsfolk" or something like that.

Should such an idea take form in-game, I think it's more likely to function somewhat like changing specs. Out of combat, you might be able to transform a character from a Mage into a Paladin or some such thing.

Now, how one would go about unlocking this is a big question. There's also the issue that some classes, particularly the Death Knight, are really tied intrinsically to the backstory of the character. A Death Knight who could turn into a Paladin and back would require some seriously weird lore to back it up.

There's also, of course, the issue of gear. The gear changes during Warlords were a godsend to hybrids who used to lug around up to sixteen alternative gear pieces to serve their different specs. This was trimmed way down to seven (weapon/off hand, necklace, cloak, ring, ring, trinket, trinket.) It would also make loot distribution a potential nightmare for raid leaders (a Warlock rolling on a tanking shield for his Warrior off-class.)

Personally, I think making it easier to level and equip alts would be a far better direction to go than this kind of multiclassing, perhaps allowing a max-level character to gradually work toward getting a character level boost in game, rather than paying for it with real money. If you absolutely hate leveling (which I don't think I'll ever understand,) you could do that instead.

Anyway, I'd prefer a new class. We'll know in two days.