downside to that is a lot more women are playing mmo's nowadays, and they're going to want to join in on the fun.

and darnit, I want to be a man-whore

We'll be announcing classes and races very very soon! :)

Women played a very important role in the old west. You may not know their names as well as Jessie James or Wyatt Earp.

Annie Oakley was well-known in her time as an expert marksman. She was shooting better than most men at the age of 12.

Belle Starr ran a gang of cattle-thieves and general outlaws.

There's tons more..

Being a woman, I can tell you that women definately had quite a bit of an effect on the old west, and they will be a part of this game.

Some women were just as tough as men. Others may have manipulated the past using their role inside of a saloon.

So when you see a woman walking around, don't think she'll be a pushover - you never know what her skills are ;)

Sorry for harassing the girls,its a thing i missed.;)
But noone answered about my classes!!!!!
AGAIN IM SOOOO SORRY it didnt pass through my mind at that moment!!!

Funar said in his reply that they're announcing the classes real soon

looking forward to it too :p

What kind of abilities would your classes have? Remember we're a skill based game - not a level based :D

What kind of skills would the classes share? How many are hybrid classes?

Prairie brings up a good point here. I feel I must squash the confusion. :) Anytime we talk about "classes" we're really talking about skill trees, hybrid skills, or skill templates. There are no predetermined classes in Phoenix.

Phoenix is a skill based game. For details of what exactly that means to us, see the big article I posted to the main site all those moons ago. That said, when you create your character, you'll have a choice of race, sex, and other characteristics, but these initial choices do not lock you into following one path of progression throughout the game. You'll be free to follow any skill path you want to.

There will be no specific Gunman class, but there will be a Marksman skill tree to follow. Likewise, there won't be dedicated healing classes, but a player may wish to follow the First Aid tree.

As the trees aren't 100% fleshed out yet, these are just two examples. The actual skills in the game may be named differently, or behave differently.

You'll have full control over which skills you focus on, and how much time you spend on them. There are limits, however. You couldn't possibly become the master of every skill tree.

Sounds like a good setup. One of the great things about SWG when it came out was the skill tree setup and how it didn't lock you into anything, much better than later on when they introduced classes/professions and you were then stuck being a clone of the zillion other players that picked that same class.

One thing I didn't like was how your hit points went up with your levels. Unless you're going to include aging or there's a Gold's Gym tucked away, the number of Hit points you start with should stay the same. As you increase in skills(levels) your craftiness, accuracy etc... should go up and as you get better weapons your attack damage should go up but to say someone that's played longer and has a higher toon should be able to take more hits than a newbie is wrong.

Maybe you can add a "Tuffness" tree. It would give you "buffs" to lower the damage you take. Kind of a "dang, he shot off my hand, well I guess I'll just have to fight through the pain and beat him with the bloody stump!".

Also for "professions" (used in the broad term) I'd like to see Army Officer. Lot's of Forts out in the old west. Not all of us want to be outlaws.

At the moment, we're focusing mainly on the Lawful and Outlaws for the basic core structure of the game. I'd like to see the military have a role in the story as well, but we may not see them until after the initial release.

As far as hit points, I completely agree. However, as you progress through skills, you'll be able to handle better weapons and wear tougher clothing that can affect damage and wound resistances.

Also, higher-level craftsmen (and women) will be able to produce items that will have better stats. I'm repeating myself again, but crafting and animal husbandry will be a very valuable skill to have in Phoenix.