Does Shakes & Fidget need additional classes? This may be a controversial topic. We think adding new classes to the Shakes & Fidget world is beneficial as it adds a new twist to the game and may add a class which users desire to play but is currently missing.
When introducing a new class, a creative process comes first. We look into which classes may be interesting to add and would fit the game. Furthermore, a new class should add an interesting aspect to the game and, to a certain extent, it should change the game to the better.
The first step is to look into which main attribute should be assigned to the class. For example, when deciding to introduce the Bard, we made the decision that we would like to implement a class with intelligence as main attribute.
Once this decision is made, we brainstorm to find classes which would fit and what these could do. In this phase of the creative process the whole team can be involved and express their opinion and suggestions.
As soon as a decision for a specific class was made, our game design department starts to work on the class’s details. In case of the Bard we wanted to create a class which is a bit more complex and which needs the player to think about how to allocate attributes. In addition, the Bard should provide the player some choices on how to be played.
Of course, while developing a new class, we need to consider how the new class would interact with the other already existing classes. This includes some math and theoretical assumptions but in the end nothing beats a real playtest and the feedback from experienced players.
That is why we do use our beta servers to provide our players the possibility to test a new class. From those tests we gather important data which help us to evaluate if our theoretical approach does actually fit as expected. It may very well be that changes need to be done if it turns out that a new class may be overpowered or too weak, or if a mechanic does not work out as planned.
In addition to the data gathered, we look into player feedback we receive either on our social channels like the game forum and Discord as well as through surveys to see if a new class is being accepted or if we need to overhaul the class to fit player expectations.
At some point we come to the conclusion that the development of a class is finalized and decide to add it to the live game environment. After its implementation a new class will be observed further to see if it meets our and the players’ expectations. Usually, this should be the case but in case we see some inconsistencies, we may overhaul the class to better fit the game.