Hello EC,
A few months ago one of the devs mentioned that the way xp would work was that it would encourage class specialisation. How will the concept of class specialisation transfer to the other races with a smaller population? Do you expect that class distribution will fall in to balance naturally or will you have incentives for new players to pick a class which is under-represented in a particular faction?
Cheers

What I think it is, is that class specializations will work similar to that of other class based multiplayer games, like TF2 and alike. Where each class is heavily focused in their area (assaults melee, devastators ranged/defence, tacticals flexibility, apothecaries healing/support) so you will need about an even number of each on the battlefield (depending on the combat station) to combat the enemy.
As said by the devs, you'd want your apothecaries with your devastators to provide support for the other marines, while tacticals complete objectives and assaults take down enemy positions.
No class is going to be spread out evenly, tacticals/traitors will be the most flexible class on release, but even they are not spread out enough to be effective in any area, and are more suited to completing objectives.

So really, you'll be wanting to play different classes, because there will be situations in which it seems necessary or more effective, to play a different class. Although this doesn't mean you cant just play one and excel at that class.

Thanks for your answer, but my understanding was that the way xp works was that it would encourage class specialisation, rather than say TF2 which has no system for encouraging specialisation. Given this fact, my concern was that it would be disadvantageous for players to switch classes in the same way that it is done in TF2 because of the way the levelling system encourages the use of a single class (as far as i understand it). While I don't have a problem with this system in itsself, my concern is that for factions with smaller populations it may result in an imbalance in class representation on the battlefield.
That being said, I don't know very much about how it all will work so I could be wrong

Not to be nitpicky, but if you could find where it was stated and who the developer was we might be able to look for a bit of context or even a direct statement from the dev themselves if they're up to it.

As far as I might be able to answer though, what I can conjure out of my head mind you I'm a bit out of the loop. I figure it'll just be slight xp buffs for squads doing as they're supposed to do. Tactical Squads are objective capturing units so maybe they get a bit of extra xp for capping and holding areas, Devastators are long range fire support so a bit of extra xp on the side for causing damage, medics getting xp for healing, Assaults might get it for slapping the enemy with melee weapons. This would make it more likely for, say, the medic to focus on healing his squad-mates instead of just being a Tactical Marine that could also heal occasionally. Tac marines might be more objective focused than other squads, etc etc. So they do what they're supposed to do, they get a reward outside of xp they'd normally get.
From there it devolves into "But how much extra xp would tac squads get since the objectives might be few and far between, would they get a big boost? Or would they get xp from holding the point? At which point does it run out? What about devastators, how do you - yadda yadda." And that's a numbers game that can really only be figured out through constant playtesting and adjustment.

Woops, ranted a bit. Like I said, that's just a sort of assumption based on the information at hand, I could be completely and totally off the mark. I just like talking

I honestly can't remember them saying that about XP, I mean it's believable but without context it's very hard to grasp.

Aside from anything getting info on progression from the Devs has been like pulling teeth, mostly because they aren't decided on much of anything themselves. Do you recall where they said it ?

Aaaah, I really don't want to watch hours of Q&A so I guess just take my word for it haha, it was a couple of months ago, the idea has been mulling around in my head for a while now.

Do you mean how killing floor works, how each class gets exp based off of doing things that they are supposed to do?
I'll clarify what I said above to make it more clear. As far as I remember the devs mentioned that experience would be granted for playing as a class, and said experience could be used to buy perks for the character specific to the class which was played.For example, Character X plays as a devastator and gets 200xp which s/he can use to buy devastator perks.
So to my question: How will an experience system that encourages you to play one class balance out class distribution on a small scale?
If I understand you correctly, you are saying that class distribution will balance out according to the needs of the situation. If this is the case, it kind of brings me back to the point that an xp system which encourages you to stick with a single class limits the ability of a group of people to change class distribution in response to a particular situation.
I know I am making a LOT of presumptions here but Im just very curious about how it will all work. Thanks for all the responses so far, I appreciate everyones input ^_^