Joint Professions

Normally I stick to the Concept Class section, but I had an idea which I think fits in here. This post concerns CCs and their implementation into future versions of GW.

The Problem

We all know that the majority of concept classes are horrible. We also all know that of the CCs that don't suck, almost all are variations on the already existing classes. Some of them are great and original, but when you get right down to it they're just not as fundamentally different as the original six classes.

On top of that, there is another problem with CCs. If GW continues to pile on new professions with every expansion/chapter, we'll end up with a massive assortment of shallow characters instead of a smaller collection of profound and versatile classes.

My Proposed Solution

Although most are derivatives of existing classes, I still think some CCs deserve to be in the game. They are different enough to not be mere clones, but not so different as to deserve a place in the original character selection screen. I think that after a certain point, and with a certain profession combination, players should have the option to convert to a joint profession. A joint profession, you ask? What could that be? Allow me to explain (using some of the posted CCs as examples).

Say you are a Monk/Warrior. Your role consists of protecting teammates in the middle of battle. Well into the game, you are presented with a choice: you can either remain a Monk/Warrior, or train and become a Shrift, a battle priest that redirects damage towards himself and inherently converts that damage into energy.

Maybe you are a Necromancer/Ranger. Your function is sending out minions and dealing damage from afar. After a certain point, you are faced with a decision: you can remain a Necromancer/Ranger, or train to become a Fleshcrafter, a demented mage whose undead minion steals opponents' flesh and converts it into powerful ranged biological weapons.

Or perhaps you are a an Assassin/Elementalist. At a particular stage in the game, you face two options: you can remain as you are or convert into a Mannai, a stealthy magic-stealer that leaches energy off of other magic-users.

Conclusion

You get the idea... Joint Professions are classes based around the functional intersection of two of the main ten classes. I'm aware of the problems (principally... how to create 90 sub-classes?!), but I think it's a pretty sexy idea. At the very least, I think there should be some transformation available after deciding your primary and secondary classes... some benefit of fusing together your two professions.

Oh, and please, no flaming....

Slight problem - the secondary profession system was added to increase flexibility, not to offer this, and then fix it in cement later on. Although this is a good idea, for me this would work better in an MMORPG, or maybe GW2, depending on what they focus on in that.

Your idea is to make a A+B=C class system? Its cool but unnecessary. Perhaps a hand full of joint class skills would be enough. Though that may be what there doing with the PvE only skills.