I have always loved melee and stealth type classes.. however recently i have been on this twinge to heal people so im definitely rolling a cleric to start.
Depending on how the mage classes turn out i really like the sound of the summoner or some sort of pet/DoT class similar to a necro in EQ.
Although im really partial to the monk too... so many choices...
Seriously though cleric first for sure.
I've narrowed it down to Wizard, Enchanter, Monk or Rogue, in that order. As far as race, I'll see what races can be what classes and decide from there.
Honestly, for me, it will come down to types of damage, types of attack, and combat-related utility. I have learned after playing 20 years of MMO's that "non-combat-related utility" results in a weak class. I am definitely a min/max'er, and will be parsing during beta to make my choice for launch.
From what has been shown so far in the videos (a wizard and enchanter) the types of attacks (dd, dot) and types of damage (ice, fire, magic) are positives from my perspective and play style. Hopefully there would be relatively few creatures that would be immune or resistant to all three damage types, and caster perks (gate, bind, buffs, pets, invis, see invis, ports) are historically so much better than non-caster perks, it's going to be an uphill battle for VR to change my mind.
As far as role & gear goes, given the trivial difference in defense between cloth and leather, I can't see that having any significant bearing on my decision regarding a damage class/role. In other words, dying in 3 hits instead of 4 isn't going to affect my decision. hehhe.
I want to play a Necromancer type. The EQ Necromancer was the best class I have played in any MMO ever.
If Necromancer is not an option, and it looks like its not in for launch, then I will probably play an Ogre Dire Lord. I might also try a Skar Summoner if there are no plans to put the Necro in the game.
In the past 20 years of playing variety of games from RPGs to mmos. Only one true class I always enjoyed palying..that is a warrior. Now remebering my years of playing EQ and looking forward to my upcoming time in Pantheon I can definitely say I will be starting out as an Archai Warrior or crusader (if lore premits).
Ranger! Should be an asset to group DPS and if unable to find groups, should be able to solo content to a certain extent. I'll always prefer grouping/raiding, but it's nice to know that I can still adventure on my own if groups are unavailable. If VR follows the EQ ranger to a degree, the class should have some utility early that old school EQ rangers were never able to obtain. Hopefully that will allow the ranger class to not be looked over when random groups are looking for other players.
The more I think about what I want to play the more I am sure that it will all depend on the progeny system.
None of us will be able to make a educated decision until we know more. The class you end up as is what's important. There is still to little information to know what classes to play prior, in order to gain good progeny bonuses.
I have a hard time planning at this stage.
I'm going to be playing 2 characters (unless there is a workable brotherhood/mentoring system in place at launch...Which I'm almost hoping there's not). I'll have one char for general play (probably a monk or druid depending on class abilities at launch and what races can be what class) and one for when my son is able to play aswell (archai shaman) If there's a working brotherhood system just the shaman. I'd love for an in progress "subject to change" list of race)class combos from the devs....Even if they update it monthly with changes, so we can plot...Err...Plan....
However if they announced a class like the Disciple from VG, I know what if play no questions asked even if I were to run 2 if the same class for different groups.