After playing a bit of WoW, I've come to a conclusion: We need to think of classes. I think the classes can be based on the professions of the person before the zombie apocalypse, and they would have special abilities depending on their class.
Can you elaborate on how playing WoW led you to this conclusion? I'm a bit skeptical, especially since you present the statement a priori and pretty much just assume we'll take it at face value*. Beyond that, and I'll approach this later, you have no basis in suggesting that a person's profession before a zombie apocalypse would translate into their performance as a, as you put it, "class" of character post apocalypse. This sort of ad hoc reasoning does no one any good, and I think basing what appears to be an important segment of game functionality** on this already misleading assumption will undoubtedly create more problems than it will solve.
Secondly, you might want to rethink your use the term class, as applying this word with regard to occupational distinctions brings up a wealth of considerations you probably aren't prepared to deal with in a game on this scale. This may be making a mountain of a molehill, so to speak, but it indicates to me an approach that also takes into account social relationships between these professions. For example, how would a "police" zombie, by what I would describe as a sadly limited and ignorant conception of what being a policeman means, interact with a, say, "drug dealer" zombie? Or even a "black" zombie? Have you even brought nationality into the equation? I think this could be an effective platform to talk about social relationships and could be used to examine them in the context of a breakdown of the traditional bounds they are defined by. Will a "transsexual" zombie, e.g., still be ostracized or treated as abnormal by other zombies? In a classical conception of "zombie," the answer would of course be no because the zombies are unfeeling and unintelligent***. But with your apparent aim of taking professions and class relations into account in your game, these could be important and fascinating questions.
For example, a fireman would be able to break down doors that other classes can't, and wear a breathing aparatus in smoke. They'd have a bonus on melee weapons (Fireaxes, you know?) but a decrease in gun skill.
The obvious question (of many) is: How can you assert with any validity that a zombie who was a fireman would be able to destroy doors that, say, a particularly strong man who is not a fireman wouldn't? Same with the breathing apparatus. Presenting these characterizations as representative of firemen exclusively is disingenuous. Any burly man would be able to use an ax break through a door. And firemen are not inherently less able to use projectile weapons (though perhaps less likely, considering the benevolent and life-protecting roll they play in our world). Not to mention, how likely is it that you will encounter firemen with any degree of regularity that it would be necessary to have you define these arbitrary abilities for them? Walking around my city, I will maybe encounter a person who works as a fireman (as in, not while he is doing his job but just walking around buying groceries or something****) once a week? If that? I think it's sad that a profession practiced by a huge variety of men and women with all different kinds of attributes would be exploited to provide a crude caricature in order to "spice up" your nascent video game.
A cop could have a bonus on driving cars and using handguns, and perhaps be able to resist bullets to the chest (due to Kevlar vests)
The same criticisms I offered above can be applied here.
Soldiers would have signifigant boluses on rifle accuracy but have a decrease in melee combat.
Ditto. Though your specification that "melee combat" be hindered is confusing. Also, many soldiers have functions that do not even directly relate to combat. Would, say, a helicopter technician soldier still display these (ignorant and oversimplified) traits? How about reserve soldiers? National guard?
Boxers would be able to beat down zombies with their bare hands mroe easily, and would have a substantial health bonus, but be slow runners.
Ditto. And this is a pretty arbitrary class. Boxers?
Any other ideas for classes and their bonuses/penalties?
How about one for a sniveling teenager who thinks he's way smarter than he is and tries to convince himself of his humility in the face of this but nevertheless consumes (proudly) media and philosophy that further inflate this self concept, more or less absorbing these products of superior minds and throwing them back out over the medium of internet (and probably IRL too) as a proxy representation of himself? A bonus can be that he might be able to delude insecure and even less self-aware girls that he has individual self worth and sleep with them, and to be honest he will probably grow out of it as he experiences life more. A penalty might be that he is a cliche and self-important to the point that people with some sense of self will find him comical*****.
* Certainly you can say that WoW has classes of characters, which triggered a thought, but the style and approach of WoW differs significantly from your own game concept, so this A-B connection is untenable in my mind.
** That is, a system in the game mechanics that will affect and define a large portion of how the game is played.
*** That is, the zombies of western popular culture within the past century.
**** Which brings up another issue, of how to differentiate between these professions in practice. A fireman zombified on one of his off days at home with his family is still a fireman, though he may be wearing pajamas.
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