Quote Originally Posted by Shurrikhan View Post
Except that's not variety except in name and perhaps aesthetics.

Why are so many so quick to assume a fatalistic zero-sum between variety in gameplay (jobs each feeling different to play) and, well, variety in gameplay (all those different jobs being playable in most compositions possible for most fights)? They're not. It's just a question of quantity and quality of encounter designs and the mechanics beneath combat in general. Any time you can't have both, within reason, something has badly failed at a more fundamental level.
No ones assuming any kind of fatalistic zero-sum; we can and do already have both. Variety always comes at a cost to balance, though. As of right now balance is pretty good in this game, but if we keep demanding variety there's going to be a tipping point.

Classes will eventually be broken beyond repair for the sake of making them "different." I personally like knowing that if my job is going through a rough period that could easily change in a patch or 2. Conversely, I've played MMO's where some classes were so far off the beaten path they would require a complete tear down to fix, and everyone knew that would never happen and was resigned to just not ever getting to play the class seriously. All I'm saying is be careful what you wish for.