<<..the problem i have with classes, is that once i choose a class, then it takes away the option for all the other classes..>>
Hence the whole point of classes because this is a party base RPG.
Seriously is this for real? Are we at that lowest point now that we need to argue whether or not we need CLASSES in a cRPG D&D game?
That's not even the unique drawback of class system - in classless RPGs you also make important choices during character creation that you are stuck with for the rest of the game. In something like D:OS2 you just continue to put point into buckets you invested early on - otherwise you will end up not doing anything good enough. Have a system with skill trees and it again, heavily encourages to dip into only couple of trees, often making it feel like a light class system.
That is a nature of RPGs and you may like it or dislike it. Creating my character in an RPG is one of my favourite aspects of those games, though it is a very old school approach - researching how the game plays before you start it. That is an issue that Tim Cain highlighted in his
GDC talk, though I am not that fond of the game that he made as the result (Outer Worlds). Making players better understand what they pick at the start of the game is a good problem to attempt to solve, but it is also a side effect of one of the most interesting aspects of the game - creating character with strengths and weaknesses.
My general preference: classless system for single character RPGs (fallout, arcanum), class system for team based RPGs.
