Unique Class Caps or Uniform Caps?

[Von Ithipathachai]

I don't know why, but I've always preferred just having the same caps for every class because they look nice and neat.  Obviously I would prefer if said caps were high, like in Gaiden, and not like in, say, Thracia 776, of course.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Von Ithipathachai

[MCProductions]

Fyi, FE3 had universal caps as well, FE4 was the only SNES game without them.

That said, I personally prefer universal low caps, easy to keep track of and I tend to have alotta fun with FE3  and 5 in part due to these caps.

[Moblin Major General]

I like high and different class caps, because that is more balanced than a General keeping pace with a Swordmaster, and a myrmidon tanking a hit from a Berserker like it was nothing.

[Von Ithipathachai]

50 minutes ago, MCProductions said:

Fyi, FE3 had universal caps as well, FE4 was the only SNES game without them.

That said, I personally prefer universal low caps, easy to keep track of and I tend to have alotta fun with FE3  and 5 in part due to these caps.

I forgot about Mystery of the Emblem, edited the poll to fix this.  Thanks for pointing it out.

45 minutes ago, Hylian Air Force said:

I like high and different class caps, because that is more balanced than a General keeping pace with a Swordmaster, and a myrmidon tanking a hit from a Berserker like it was nothing.

Weren't the games where this could feasibly happen the same ones that had ridiculous growth-boosting items?

[Moblin Major General]

Just now, Von Ithipathachai said:

Weren't the games where this could feasibly happen the same ones that had ridiculous growth-boosting items?

FE3 and FE5. Also FE9 I think, to a lesser extent (maybe).

[Von Ithipathachai]

15 minutes ago, Hylian Air Force said:

FE3 and FE5. Also FE9 I think, to a lesser extent (maybe).

Yeah.  So this doesn't strike me as a problem inherent to uniform caps.  It seems easy enough to avoid if you just not include these kinds of items and continue to give everyone reasonable growths.

I think another reason I like uniform caps is that they aren't quite as punishing to units with unusual stat distributions for their class, which I tend to find more interesting.

Then again, I'm also someone who'd be totally satisfied with classes being distinguished more by their weapons than their stats, like in Heroes.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Von Ithipathachai

[X-Naut]

I'm more a fan of individual class caps, but I can see the appeal of uniform caps and actually thought about how one might go about doing it in a game with all-30 caps after first reading the topic.

[Von Ithipathachai]

48 minutes ago, X-Naut said:

I'm more a fan of individual class caps, but I can see the appeal of uniform caps and actually thought about how one might go about doing it in a game with all-30 caps after first reading the topic.

For my own project, I thought about implementing a "semi-uniform" system in which every class has at least, say, 30 for every cap, but certain classes get cap bonuses for certain stats (Generals would have Strength and Defense caps of 35 and caps of 30 for everything else but HP, while Falcon Knights would have Speed and Resistance caps of 35 and caps of 30 for everything else but HP, etc.  Some capsets would be used by multiple classes like Falcon Knights and, say, Master Ninjas that excel in the same types of stats.)

[bottlegnomes]

On 3/21/2018 at 11:16 PM, Von Ithipathachai said:

I think another reason I like uniform caps is that they aren't quite as punishing to units with unusual stat distributions for their class, which I tend to find more interesting.

This, to me, was always more an issue with cap-ramming, which more recent games seem fond of, but I'm not by a long shot. Like RD, much as I like a lot of aspects, if your characters were hitting 20/20/20 and didn't have 80+% green, you were doing something wrong.

On the note of individual caps, I actually thought you meant personal ones, like Awakening and Fates have, which I'm also a fan of.

I could certainly see the appeal of a universal neutral statline with modifiers. Personally, I'd say 25, but I've always been a fan of the 20-30 max stat range, which might just be nostalgia because the GBA games were my first. Maybe have like 25 + class mod (can be negative) + personal mod (can be negative). And not everyone or even most people should cap ram. Then you could have someone who can learn something fast (high growth), but is rather slipshod in their learning (negative modifier) to give them some character.

This is a bit off-topic, but I also thought it'd be neat if there was a game where everyone could use every weapon type and ride any mount type, but had different aptitudes. It'd still be wexp (and mount experience) as we know it, but Kent might have like a 2x mod for swords and 2x for horses while Bartre would have a 0.5x for both but a 3x for axes. So both would always fain experience in whatever area guaranteed, just at different rates. The numbers are just examples, but that's the general concept. That way, if you really wanted Bartre to be a bow cav, you could, but you'd have to invest a lot of effort.

Edited March 23, 2018 by bottlegnomes

[Eden Agleam]

I would ultimately prefer character specific caps, allowing certain niches to come to be for different characters. That way, we could have wonky characters like the magic-sword specializing sowrdmaster or a berserker that can go toe-to-toe with a mage while equipped with a ranged axe.