Quote Originally Posted by Inaaca View Post
To be fair.. You're comparing an RPG to an MMORPG... It doesn't equate to quite the same thing. Rules change when the MMO element is added into the mix.
Not really. At the end of the day, MMOs have their roots in MUDs, which have their roots in tabletop gaming, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. As far as I'm aware, career crafting has never been a thing in D&D, and I doubt that the blacksmith with no combat experience is going to be able to help in the Tomb of Horrors while everyone around him dies in the most horrific fashion imaginable.

I mean, you can certainly have small modules that focus on the life of a blacksmith or whatever (which is where things are headed), but you're stretching things just a tad when you put it into their heads that, yes, they can also defeat the Death Demon From Beyond The Dark Crystal Dimension that becomes the centre of the game's story by debating the rising costs of iron ore with it. The very concept is completely untenable in a fantasy game of magic and monsters.