From an interview on MMORPG.com, an good analysis by Darkfall's ( http://www.darkfallonline.com/ Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras on why they're going with a skill system:
MMORPG.com: The usual debate over skill vs. class system rages here. Why did you go for skill-based?
Tasos Flambouras: Why allow players to take the skills they want and need as their character develops and the game evolves?
In a skill-based system, such as Darkfall's, players can create exactly the character they want to play, without limitations dictated by design choices or by the need to balance a class-based system. It's more challenging for us as developers, but we feel it's better for the players and for the game.
In a class based system you get a pretty much already developed character with little room to grow, whereas the skill based system allows you the freedom and the pleasure of developing your character yourself. With the number of skills in Darkfall, each character will be unique.
In Darkfall, you pick and choose exactly the skills you fancy, and if you tire of the combination, you just switch your focus to some new ones - any new ones. In a class-based system the only time you have complete freedom is right before you create your character and then you're boxed in by your initial, often uninformed, choices.
The skill based system allows the player to adapt, as he learns more about what he needs in the game, to best fit his playing style. New players may not know which class to pick since they don't have experience of the game, essentially forcing them to be stuck with a gimped character, or having to re-roll and forcibly retire a character that was a part of the community and had its own history. The same applies as the game evolves and new skills become important.
Allowing characters the freedom to grow and adapt allows us to add new content and new challenges without worrying about being unfair to certain groups of player characters. In Darkfall all players will be able to take advantage of the new opportunities that come along with the evolution of the game.
Slashdot Mirror
MMORPG.com: The usual debate over skill vs. class system rages here. Why did you go for skill-based?
Tasos Flambouras: Why allow players to take the skills they want and need as their character develops and the game evolves?
In a skill-based system, such as Darkfall's, players can create exactly the character they want to play, without limitations dictated by design choices or by the need to balance a class-based system. It's more challenging for us as developers, but we feel it's better for the players and for the game.
In a class based system you get a pretty much already developed character with little room to grow, whereas the skill based system allows you the freedom and the pleasure of developing your character yourself. With the number of skills in Darkfall, each character will be unique.
In Darkfall, you pick and choose exactly the skills you fancy, and if you tire of the combination, you just switch your focus to some new ones - any new ones. In a class-based system the only time you have complete freedom is right before you create your character and then you're boxed in by your initial, often uninformed, choices.
The skill based system allows the player to adapt, as he learns more about what he needs in the game, to best fit his playing style. New players may not know which class to pick since they don't have experience of the game, essentially forcing them to be stuck with a gimped character, or having to re-roll and forcibly retire a character that was a part of the community and had its own history. The same applies as the game evolves and new skills become important.
Allowing characters the freedom to grow and adapt allows us to add new content and new challenges without worrying about being unfair to certain groups of player characters. In Darkfall all players will be able to take advantage of the new opportunities that come along with the evolution of the game.
for reference, the entire interview can be found here: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/feature s/gameID/4/loadFeature/408/page/2/from/