Guild Wars 2

As I get more excited with each elite spec that is revealed, I can’t help but wonder what the state of the vanilla professions will be. Are elite specs supposed to be upgrades or alternatives? Because once we get future sets of elite specs to choose between it will be easier, but right now with only one elite spec it seems that the vanilla professions are just not as exciting. Unless they make an elite spec that is actually worse than the vanilla, which I doubt they will do on purpose, I see no reason to not switch. I get a new weapon, more skills, it just seems like why stay a necro or a ranger when reaper and druid bring more to the table? Why don’t we lose a weapon we can use to balance it out?

You’re far from the first to make a thread about this exact topic. Anet has stated that elite specializations are meant to be equal to normal specializations (although it will no doubt take multiple balance updates after HoT to achieve that). They might seem like upgrades because they are new and shiny and because they give access to more skills and change your profession mechanics but all of that does not neccesarily make them stronger.

Although it might seem like it is always better to take an elite specialization, doing so means you can only take 2 core specializations instead of 3. Besides, take the reaper for example. Taking the reaper as a specializations means that your death shroud skills have all become melee and your fears also apply chill. Neither of those things are always benefical.

Having the same, but different isn’t bad in my opinion. It doesn’t need to be better and better is a subjective opinion.

Currently I’m playing elder scrolls online (besides GW2 to bridge the gap till the expansion comes). One of the things there is that you can become a vampire. Translated to GW2 it does the following (within the GW2balance and roughly).
1: You get access to 2 extra utility skills and an elite skill. they are not better or less then others, but ok. Those are optional too.
2: you get a passive effect that gives you 20% more power.
3: you take 40% more damage from critical hits
4: health regen is reduced by 50%

Now…4 and 1 are not really important. The reduced health regen is a hinderance (but self heal when out of combat is easy). the first is just more choice.
What is strong is 2 and 3. It turns you more into a glasscanon, but at the same time you do less against zerker in PvP-formats cause the crits are way harder. I have not a clue how such thing would turn out in GW2, but it would be interesting to watch.

Why am I saying all this?? Just to put in some effort in proving a point that the same (in balance terms) doesn’t mean it is different in gameplay and experience. It is a choice you make. It shouldn’t make you better, but it should make you different.