Roles, Classes, and Jobs
Design exploration for a three-layer identity system, inspired by FFXIV’s Role → Class → Job progression.
Roles (picked at onboarding)
Three roles, straight from MMO holy trinity:
- Tank — you protect, you lead, you absorb pressure
- DPS — you produce output, you solve problems, you deal damage
- Support — you heal, you enable, you keep things running
The joke: these map to your real life. “What’s your role IRL?” is the onboarding question.
| Role | Real-life examples |
|---|---|
| Tank | Bouncer, construction worker, coach, manager, military, security |
| DPS | Software engineer, banker, doctor, lawyer, sales, artist |
| Support | Nurse, vet, teacher, therapist, social worker, librarian |
Some jobs are ambiguous on purpose — a teacher could argue Tank (classroom management), DPS (delivering knowledge), or Support (enabling students). That ambiguity IS the engagement. People will debate their classification like Hogwarts houses.
Classes (within each Role)
Classes are the how within a Role. Two Supports can play completely differently — a therapist and a firefighter/EMT are both keeping people alive but the approach is nothing alike.
Classes are still cosmetic identity + community sorting. Picked at onboarding or unlocked through play. TBD whether classes are predefined or emergent.
Open questions on classes
- Are classes picked by the player or assigned based on a quiz/questionnaire?
- How many classes per role? FFXIV has 2-4 per role.
- Do classes have flavor names (Paladin, Bard) or stay literal (Guardian, Dealer, Medic)?
- Can classes span roles? (e.g., a “Bard” class could be DPS or Support depending on context)
Jobs (specialization, unlocked at higher level)
Jobs are the prestige layer. Unlocked at a level gate (Name Level 9? or lower — TBD).
Key idea: Jobs could reflect how you actually played, not just what you picked. A DPS who mostly does social quests might specialize differently than a DPS who grinds exploration quests. The game notices what you do and offers a Job that fits.
FFXIV precedent
- Class → Job at level 30 (out of 100)
- Job is strictly better than Class — stat boosts, new abilities
- Job shares level with Class, so no progress is lost
- Some Jobs have no base Class (added in expansions)
How this could work for us
- Roles: picked at onboarding (Tank/DPS/Support)
- Classes: picked or unlocked early (flavor identity within role)
- Jobs: unlocked at a level milestone, potentially informed by play history
- Each layer adds identity and community sorting without mechanical advantage (staying true to the “healthy gamification” pillar from the dungeon-club-game-design-document)
Mechanical Relevance (Long-Term)
Roles are cosmetic at launch but become mechanically relevant for group content:
- Party composition for quests/raids: some quests require 1 Tank + 1 DPS + 1 Support to complete. Forces players to party up across roles — social mixing by design.
- Class bonuses: each Class gets unique passive bonuses or perks (e.g., a Support class might get bonus XP for attending events with new members, a Tank class might get bonus XP for streak completions). Deferred until post-launch — add when players ask for it per the GDD’s “start small, iterate” pillar.
- Roster depth: multiple Classes per Role means party composition has variety. Two Support players bring different flavor even if they fill the same role slot.
This follows the GDD’s existing approach: cosmetic at launch, mechanical depth added later based on community feedback. The Role/Class/Job structure gives us a clear framework for where to add that depth when the time comes.
Why This Works for Virality
“I’m a Tank IRL” is an instantly shareable identity statement. People will:
- Argue about which role their job maps to
- Make memes sorting professions into Tank/DPS/Support
- Put it in their bios
- Debate edge cases endlessly
This is free marketing. The classification system IS the content.