The Illusion of Choice

[Ibi]

It's funny that people reference WoW so often in this regard when at the time of the shift to streamlined talents [...] had at least a few specs per class, role, and setting that performed within 3% of each other, and forum-scorned "non-optimal" specs frequently outperforming the FotM specs.

If you want true illusion of choice, look no further than what followed that excuse: Mist talents. One dummy-style AoE, one burst ST, one gradual self-buff. [...] "Illusion" of choice gone.

Illusion of choice does not mean "Choice where one outcome is generally superior". It doesn't even mean "Choice where one outcome is optimal".

To illustrate, let's look a assigning talent points for a feral cat druid in Wrath (since it was my main at the time), using this Wrath talent calculator.

When you first open it up, you have 7 talents to which you can assign points. You do technically have a choice to assign those points anywhere. But once you start actually looking at the talent descriptions, it's clear (if you're at all familiar with druid) that some of these are non-starters. In fact, I was able to assign 68 of the 71 (95.8%) points without having to make any actual decisions beyond:

1. Do I have a talent available that will increase my DPS?
2. If not, and there are talents on the next tier that will increase my DPS, what's the best available choice that will give me enough points to make that tier available?

I could make a choice to remove some of those points I've assigned and put them in, say, Starlight Wrath, but since feral cat druid doesn't ever cast Wrath or Starfire, there's no reason to ever do so.

This choice is effectively an illusion. I have an option available to me, but there's never any rational reason that I'd take it.

Now, let's take a look at the Warlords talents (because I can't find a working Mists one online and the principle behind it is the same as the Mists one). In fact, let's focus on the level 60 tier, because it's actually DPS-related talents and lets me illustrate the point.

There are three options available:

• Soul of the Forest: Provides a completely passive damage boost, by giving me some energy whenever I used a finisher.
• Incarnation: King of the Jungle: Provides a cooldown that, once activated, changes the way some of my abilities work, which changes what I'd actually be doing for its duration.
• Force of Nature: Provides a cooldown that, once activated, requires no further action from me.

All three increase my overall DPS, and if you go look at something like Icy Veins feral druid guide, it'll tell you that Incarnation is the best talent choice, and that, in terms of increasing your DPS, the other two cannot compete with it.

That does not mean that this is choice is an illusion.

Incarnation requires more of the player than Force of Nature, and both require more of the player than the entirely passive Soul of the Forest. There are pros and cons to each option.

Now, if someone is a mythic raider, their skill level is high enough that the pros of Incarnation vastly outweigh the cons, so it's a pretty easy decision for them.

But for the average player, who may find their performance takes a hit when they have to manage both their rotation and the mechanics of a fight? Maybe they'll opt to take one of the other two talents, so that they can focus more, or entirely, on the fight mechanics.

That's a completely legitimate option that many players would likely choose to take.