Do NOT make the same mistake as FFXI.

[Preypacer]

I think what I was getting at was that Square Enix keeps expecting us to play one particular way, with each given class, and it's kind of getting ridiculous. Whatever happened to being able to individualize?

Perhaps.

Frankly, in my experience across myriad MMOs of varying playstyles, the concept of "individualizing" in a MMO is an illusion. I'm not saying it's not worth pursuing... it just never happens.

Why? For the very reasons people have brought up in this thread.

If a pre-determined class-design doesn't limit you to specific roles, then the rest of the player-base will, starting with the min/maxers and working its way across the playerbase from there.

There are so many MMOs out there that offer, seemingly, limitless playstyle options, they're classless and purely skill-based, in those MMOs "you are what you do" so to speak. What ends up happening, regardless? Players start reducing the options down to a handful of "proven builds" that are deemed "the most optimal" anyway. So you end up in exactly the same situation as if the developers had determined those roles instead.

The irony is, in those skill-based games, after the players have reduced all those countless combinations down to the "accepted few", they'll still turn around and blame the devs for it. Why? Because people also very seldom have any sense of personal accountability. Everything is always someone else's fault, even when it isn't. But that's a whole other issue.

No matter what SE does, how flexible they make the system or how many options they truly provide, you can bet your ass the players will step in, define and impose restrictions in their stead.

This picture sums it up best

SE - and all developers - can, and should, do everything in their power to try and provide as diverse and interesting an experience as they can. However, the players - at some point - have to do their part to resist writing guides, crowning them as "The One And Only Correct Way To Play" and then demanding everyone follow them or "they're not playing right". That's a behavior SE - or any developer - can do nothing about.

Should it happen? Absolutely. Will it? I stopped holding my breath a long time ago.