They are taking a different approach by splashing buckets of grey paint all over the various, vibrant colors of difference and variety that make up the different specs, but if they manage to execute this right, and we truly have a raid environment where what’s optimum isn’t as important as playing with people you like, then Blizzard will have created a perfect WoW.

So someone would excitedly decide “Yeah! I’m going to do tree Z!” only to realize tree Z sucked and had no place in anyone’s group. Then the collective someones would say “Make my tree Z stop sucking!” Blizzard, which is loathe to take candy back once it’s given it out, gradually relented over and over until everyone’s tree can be great just like anyone else!

But this inflates a game whose fundamental mechanics were designed around 9 roles into a game with 20+ roles, all clamoring for a spot in the raid clubhouse. Now the devs are responding by trying to streamline everything into an amorphous gray soup. If no one is special, no one feels left out! Hooray!

I feel the root of all this mess is Blizzard designing one thing and promising another. Don’t tease new people with talent trees if you know they’re only going to have one role in the end-game. Trying to make amends for this misleading feature has spiraled out of control and now it’s openly harming things for everybody.

At this point, we’re about 5 steps away from just calling it a day and reducing the game to 4 classes: Fighter, Cleric, Thief, and Wizard. And honestly? Yes, this might be much more friendly to casual players or raid-planners. But it’s also a little soul-sucking for people who like the intricacy and variety that truly different classes bring.

World of Holy Paladin/Warrior/Rogue/Hunter craft ahoy.