@Larynx Your actually correct. I think the reason they did NOT do this is simply for one unfortunate reason. It shares these professions with another game (guild wars 2 pve). They wanted to make sure each profession option could apply any role or play style in a group(dungeon) so you have what we have now.
In a game like the SPVP side of things when you can just easily create a new profession on a whim to play, this sort of design isnt practical or important in the least bit.
I wrote another thread on the design flaws and pros in this game earlier. But like i stated there a lot of choices you’d have to make to help the health of the game that would create serious backlash due to people becoming accustomed to what we have now and the synergy it trys to maintain with the pve side of the game.
For example. I dont beleive having multiple races of completely different sizes is a smart move for spvp. You end up with asuras vs norns that are going to offer different advantages to new players (and even vets in some scenerios). It would have been ok if each profession was set to a specific race thus you would balance around that. But take a game like gears of war that has two different races…yet they have the exact same body types, so there is no advantage from one to the next visually. Try today to say “you cant play your pve character in spvp but must create a Human (or sylvari?)” and you would have MAJOR upset. Had they said this before the game was launched and gave reason that it would make the game more balanced…90%+ people would be ok with it.
But back to what you are saying. Its true, if you take out the over abundance of options (many of which are nub traps aka, bad choices that make you weaker for choosing Y over X). And just give each profession a more focused style of play, remove the illusion of strategic choice in sigils and runes (there will ALWAYS be a few that are good and many that are bad). And leave the majority of customization up to what profession you chose and what abilitys you chose, and you’d STILL have a very exciting game with tons of replayability and strategy.
Take TF2 even after they added several alternate weapon options, it still doesnt take a calculator and research to jump into a match and start killing people. You dont have to figure out the perfect combination of abilities, traits, runes, sigils, amulets before you can walk into a match. This is TOO MANY VARIABLES TO BALANCE ACROSS 8 PROFESSIONS. (sorry i like caps). Also like you said allowing each profession to do everything and then try to make them equally good at everything is too much work for too little pay off. TF2 i can grab a class that looks like what i’d like to do, and GO!.
The game offers enough twitch reaction style combat, with some aoe aimed skills and dodge mechanics that it really doesnt need this added layer of complexity. Some people think adding more enhances the game, but really all it does is create another barrier to new players, makes it harder to balance, and gives the illusion of strategy (as there will always be a couple “builds” that work best).
If they had pulled back even further on the pre-game strategy. Focused professions into narrower archtypes and styles of play. They could have had a TON easier time balancing it, and branching out new abilities (even a new profession or two) allowing more resources to be directed towards much needed game development like alternate map styles and match making.
But they did not. They were at the buffett and everything looked so good they decided to throw it all on their plate and now they gotta figure out how they’re gonna get it all into their stomach. I think the core features of this game (balanced pvp, no gear grind for better stats, twitch style battleground gameplay) where what made the spvp so attractive. Not the fluff that obviously was incorperated due to it sharing its professions with the PVE mmo side of the game. I still think if it was a seperate title with complete focus, it would be one of the best online pvp games in the world today.
