Is SE really going to repeat the foruma from 2.0 and 3.0???

[SoloWingMetatron]

Those other MMOs also lock you into a single class per character. FFXIV essentially treats its job flexibility as skill trees. Adding varying branches to each job would triple the workload. Now you have to balance Dragoon as a DPS, tank or support DPS. Instead, they promote switching jobs. That, however, comes with some limitations. You cannot just abruptly decide to change your main and have the best gear available.

As for gear choices and set bonuses. Let's be honest. How much impact does those actually have? Blade & Soul has the aforementioned skill trees as does Black Desert. Both were micromanaged within days of release and everyone copied the hardcore PvP builds that were posted on reddit. While some games do it better than others, more often than not it's an illusion of choice. Say they made Dragoon a tank, but it was superior as a support melee DPS and not up to par with Warrior. Very few people will bother changing it to tank; less will bring it to raids.

I can understand your perspective on playing multiple jobs being an answer to skill trees. But I must disagree that multiple jobs and skill trees are the same thing. Furthermore not all those other MMO's lock you to a single class. PSO2 is the perfect example of this. In fact PSO2 in many ways is the perfect example of why FF14 has no excuse for it's lack of choice and options. SE is a multi billion dollar company, that is well known around the world. FF is a multi million dollar franchise that is beloved around the world. FF14 is one of the top MMO's atm. Not only that but it's a subscription based MMO, bringing in a lot of revenue for SE. It also has a successful cash shop bringing in more revenue. Yet how come a game like PSO2 that is not as well known. That isn't available and played worldwide. That isn't bringing in as much revenue (because it is a free to play game) can still bring all this depth, choice and diversity, that FF14 refuses to do even slightly. FF11 is another perfect example btw.

My point is almost every other MMO out there is offering these options to the people (Even free to play MMO's!) Even if they're just "smoke and mirrors" as I said. Of course these options are not always just "smoke and mirrors" though and are actually important parts of making an MMO what they are.