I think ToR on release had an okay compromise system.
1 free respec a week (and the game certainly required more as it was a more traditional MMO, could be changed to two weeks for NW), and then the cost in currency (much more attainable as there was only 1 currency) became prohibitively expensive very quickly.
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replicaclonedMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
The way I am looking at this is:
I am level 30, I am using my points for powers and traits. I know that at level 60 I will definitely be respecing to streamline my preferred spec. Right now I have pretty much picked up every power point ability to try them out, and I have just been filling in the traits in hopes they work and will improve my leveling
This means that I will be saving every AD I can get my hands on. (Well, not every single one. I do need scrolls sometimes, and I am selling a bunch of stuff on the AH every time I play.) Just so I know I will be able to afford the repec at level 60. Maybe by the time I get to max level with my first character prices will be cheaper and I won't have to worry about whether or not it worth it in the long run to spend my time with this game. Respeccing, to me, is an important part of my MMO experience. Not because I like to pick-up which ever FOTM spec is out there, but because my tastes change. One day I may want to be a glass-cannon type spec, and the next week I may decide I want to do something else.
While I may not know how much AD a person can get at level 60 currently. I do know that right now I estimate it would take me a week of farming/selling stuff just to respec. That is far too much work just to enjoy the class I chose. In fact I would wager I would quit this game before I forced myself to farm a week worth of AD with the sole purpose of just playing the spec I wanted. Because I sure has heck would never pay real money just for the liberty of changing some points around to fit my play-style. And what happens if I decide that the new spec isn't my cup of tea? Back to farming for another week? Nope. Nope. Nope.
Obviously tho, with any MMO there will be bugs concerning builds. Bugs that make almost everyone build around them. Which makes the prices of respeccing even more ridiculous. A hundred thousand plus AD guaranteed to be spent after every patch? No, thanks.
Some people think that you should be forced to live with the choices you make in this game. I do not agree at all.
While I do pvp more than I raid or dungeon crawl. I should not have to gimp myself to do one or the other just because they think once you choose a spec you should have to live with it or pay large sums of crystals or shell out real money every time you change your mind. I do not do one thing, PVE or PVP, 100% of the time. There will be some days where I feel like killing other players, and there will be others where I feel like doing dungeons. It's never a sure thing. And if I am forced to spend a fortune of AD every week, that's not acceptable to me. If others feel that their AD is worth it to do this, fine. If others feel it's okay to waste X amount of real dollars every week or month, fine. I am not one of those people, and most of my friends who I play this game with are not either.
What is currently available I am not on-board with. It basically means I will have to keep a certain LARGE balance of AD on hand at all times on each character just for respeccing. Something that is completely ridiculous. I am not sure what the answer should be, tho. Lower the costs? Sure. Offer dual-speccing? sure. Both? Even better!
Respeccing is NOT a luxury. It is a fundamental part of every MMO(which this is, not a P&P game.) Bugs, broken traits...these things are the norm for every MMO. Charging large sums of in game money and/or little bit real money are not the norm for every MMO. This is not something that will catch on and become a standard. Ever.
I think the current respec system is ridiculous, and I'm totally on the side of the respec'ers as I love to respec alot and experiment.
I must say that I do appreciate respecs being a little scarcer though, but the current way to achieve them is silly.
IMO they should just let us buy respecs with those daily coin things, simple way to give a limited way to respec at a price (not getting that weekly chest thingy or those other coins for long term rewards). On top of that, I think that while still in beta, they should either have a weekend or a couple days where people can respec nilly willy JUST for experimentation, and at least we could get some information about how certain feats actually function. After that though it should just be back to normal. Even better would be to allow us to use the foundry to have unlimited respecs only for the purpose of testing (not actually respeccing your char) just like the testing area in Champions Online.
I would also prefer if acquiring respecs was actually an adventure, like a series of tough dungeons to acquire them. You could have the weekly coins to get them, tough dungeon dives to get them, or just plop down your money/diamonds to an instant one (convenience).
It's also worth mentioning that it can't change things set in character creation.. like your stats pre-point allocation. That should be enough 'living with your choices (made when you had no idea how the game worked)' for you - the fact that it's not suggests you just be trollin'. Or hewing to some kind of weird ideological purity about how games should emulate reality and people should be stuck with their choices forever, even during leisure time.
make like in wow.
1 respec 20gold
2 respec 50 gold
3 respec 100 gold
4 respec 120gold
and so on. atleast gives us some playroom to enjoy the game and fix our chars after patches. nerfs. buffs. playstyle.
Yay another one defending poor gamedesign with D&Dfanboyism, i just dont get it. WHY?
Like D&D is that perfect, really? On top of that compare it to a MMO?
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clockwerkninjaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Yay another one defending poor gamedesign with D&Dfanboyism, i just dont get it. WHY?
Like D&D is that perfect, really? On top of that compare it to a MMO?
Ok, you are welcome to have that opinion..One must ask, wtf are you doing here however..
If you guys do not like the game, go play WoW. Do not troll up the forums to try and ruin the game so many seem to be fine with.
They obviously knew about this whole "respeccing" phenomenon you guys keep trying to remind them exists.. They chose not to add it, many many players are fine with it...Stop trying to chang our game and go play a game you like.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Quote Originally Posted by roents
It's an "open beta" that can't be wiped even in the midst of multiple economy destroying exploits. FUN
I am well aware there are people on both sides of the fence.
My side of the fence is the moment there are unlimited respecs I would leave. No question.
It effects me greatly.
Doesn't matter if you don't agree. I am telling you it effects me. Doesn't matter why or how.
It does effect me.
Thanks for the insightful comment, you explained this thoroughly. /s
Somehow, a guy who has nothing to do with you in-game or in real life wanting to respec his character without having to unload $6 every-time, so that he could have fun is somehow affecting you so greatly that it makes you want to leave the game. Got it.
If anything, you are one of the very few players who would leave over something another player is doing. PWE would lose more customers if they keep these prices up. It's better to lose people like you who would leave the game just because other players are actually enjoying the game in their own way.
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bosnianhitmanMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 4Arc User
Ok, you are welcome to have that opinion..One must ask, wtf are you doing here however..
If you guys do not like the game, go play WoW. Do not troll up the forums to try and ruin the game so many seem to be fine with.
You are an ungrateful, self entitled lot of newbies if you ask me. The designers delivered a game they wanted to make, they chose to fund it with a f2p model that allows for us to enjoy it at no cost if we wish.
They obviously knew about this whole "respeccing" phenomenon you guys keep trying to remind them exists.. They chose not to add it, many many players are fine with it...Stop trying to chang our game and go play a game you like.
You seem to believe that those of us asking for a change in the current system don't like the game. You couldn't be more wrong. It's because we like the game that we bring up issues like this. Just because a feature was in WoW doesn't mean it's not a valid addition to the game.
This is a serious problem for those of us accustomed to a certain level of flexibility/user friendly-ness in our games.
Thanks for the insightful comment, you explained this thoroughly. /s
Somehow, a guy who has nothing to do with you in-game or in real life wanting to respec his character without having to unload $6 every-time, so that he could have fun is somehow affecting you so greatly that it makes you want to leave the game. Got it.
If anything, you are one of the very few players who would leave over something another player is doing. PWE would lose more customers if they keep these prices up. It's better to lose people like you who would leave the game just because other players are actually enjoying the game in their own way.
I would also like to know how allowing unlimited respecs would greatly affect someones game play to the point where they would leave. I guess I'll take the other guy's word for it, but still. I don't care one way or another about the issue; but to all people who feel strongly for no respecs or limited respecs, may I ask why aside from personal preference? Would it make the game unfair because you don't want to respec and have a more natural experience with the game and people who make perfect builds will kick ***? Does the option somehow make it impossible for you to not respec if you aren't happy? Does the forced limited respec make the game feel as if there are higher stakes and give you some sort of rush? I'd like to read some reasons not based upon, "hardcore is better, my tabletop, go play wow, etc." Also, I did like the argument about keeping it close to DnD, I mean hey why not?
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ambisinisterrMember, Neverwinter ModeratorPosts: 10,462Community Moderator
edited May 2013
That comment was made in reference to the fact I was told it doesn't effect me.
I have made several posts describing why it does in detail.
Now I am paying the price for not repeating myself in a single post.
The analogy I came up with earlier was that it would be similar to adding guns to the game and then arguing I can opt to not use them if I don't like them.
In some cases the actions of others don't effect people but in this case they do effect me as a long time fan of D&D.
This is an MMO, fine. But names and lore alone don't make D&D what it is. And one major aspect to D&D is the fact your choices have to matter.
This is an MMO and A Dungeons and Dragons Game.
Both player bases have to compromise.
D&D Players lose a lot due to the fact this is an MMO. And every single one effects and hurts us. It's very much akin to vandalism.
If you don't care or are here because of "MMO" I can understand and respect that.
But it effects me, profoundly.
You have your respecs, against what I would prefer.
You can have limted respecs, against what you would prefer.
Because in the end this isn't an MMO. This isn't D&D.
This is a D&D MMO.
ambisinisterrMember, Neverwinter ModeratorPosts: 10,462Community Moderator
edited May 2013
Moderator Notice -
Keep this debate civil. I've been very lax, especially with comments made towards my opinions, but this thread can not continue to be so condescending towards other's opinions.
I don't want to remove anybody's posts but if things continue down this path I will be left with no choice in the matter.
Respect other people's opinions even if they are old and grumpy D&D players stuck in their old ways.
replicaclonedMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
I sure hope the developers do not have the same mindset at the people they allow to moderate their official forums.
Unless of course they can be the first people in history to make a perfect MMO...otherwise this game will down with SWTOR, Tera, and the rest of the games that have a very niche base. But, for the purists, I guess that's more than enough.
With the way the MMO market is now, old school D&D rules would simply kill this game. Perma-death, no-repeccing etc. etc. Those are ideas great for the kitchen table, or basement, or garage. Not for a MMO. An eraser on a pencil is not the same thing as thousands of lines of code. You can't just erase a broken trait, or power ability in this game. And you can't expect people to shell out money or their entire diamond supply just because their preferred spec is bugged that month. Sorry, it just does not work that way.
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ambisinisterrMember, Neverwinter ModeratorPosts: 10,462Community Moderator
edited May 2013
I've never said the game shouldn't be forgiving or informative.
I've never said the game shouldn't be forgiving or informative.
I said respecs shouldn't be a common event.
Yes, I know.
You have to realize in an MMO they are very common. They have to be. Not just in instances of people who want to play the best spec at that time, all the time. But, because people want to find that certain spec that they like the most. What compliments them and their play-style. Whether that takes 1 time or 10 times, it should not matter. And people should not have to go through Asian style-like MMO farming to get their diamonds just to respec, and they sure as heck should not have to shell out real money to do it either. Making something like re-speccing uncommon, or frowned upon, is not something that belongs in an MMO. Period.
Like I said, unless this company can be the first one in history to nail every single line of code perfectly, you can not expect people to respec rarely. You can not take one of the most common things in an MMO and turn around and change the rules. Well, you can, but you will most likely be shutting down the servers a lot faster than you might have thought.
They will give free respecc to everyone when 2nd paragon path will go live. They must do it, otherwise it would just prove how bad the company is. Why they will give it for free to everyone? Few simple reasons:
1) Pargon choice should be here from start, its joke to have no choice in it, when clearly its basic mechanic of classes . Blocked most people to choose what they really want.
2) When they add new paragon paths, they will need to add/remodel current feats, and if they do that, you would no longer have bonuses that you choosed now.
3) The game should be still in closed beta or even alpha, because the current state is joke. People fall for it by even spending a dime on company that clearly want to rush everything just to milk money from you.
So dont bother to buy anything till they add what supposed to be already in the game in closed beta. Open beta is just to stress test and fix minor bugs/exploits , dont let anyone tell you otherwise.
It has been to long that gamers have had to pay no attention to choices. This is very inline with a D&D game and I am glad that it is difficult to obtain a respec. I would feel better if you could not respec at all however.
the problem with such a system is really the bad power descriptions lacking dps animation time small vids to show if you think the animation is horrible flavor wise(RP) also this would scare away mainstream gamers and reduce cryptics cash flow abit
as an older player with responsibility's having to re-roll a character would be to time consuming for me in an mmo i usualy only have time for making 1 max level character and it it probably gonna take me atleast 6 months to get there its probably fine for a hardcore player i would quite honestly just find something else to play
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apple93zMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 2Arc User
edited May 2013
I thought I was going to spend a lot of money in this game like I did in LoL, like I did in GW2. I spent money in those games not because I felt like I needed to but because I wanted to. If there was no respec at all in Neverwinter I'd think oh, maybe this game isn't for me. But there is one, it's a big button at the bottom powers/ feats page, so don't tell me the devs don't want you to respec. It's a cheap moneygrab and it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth for a potentially good game.
If PW decides to keep it this way It's of course their choice but I think they are turning away a lot more money from people like me than people that will pay for the respec or (if they actually exist) people who would for some reason quit if respecs were easier to do.
It has been to long that gamers have had to pay no attention to choices. This is very inline with a D&D game and I am glad that it is difficult to obtain a respec. I would feel better if you could not respec at all however.
Respeccing IS easy. You didn't use the right word.
Expensive does not mean difficult. Boring does not mean difficult. Tedious does not mean difficult.
Many MMO players seem to be unable to differentiate between these 4 words, and as a result we have threads like this.
There are plenty of games and plenty of genres where the choices you make in character progression are permanent and permanently meaningful. This style of choice has _NO_ place in an MMO, where the time investment is already MUCH larger than any of the aforementioned game genres on a character-by-character basis. There are very few to no other games where you are likely to invest as much time into a single character as you ever will in an MMO with a long shelf-life, and as a result your choices are inherently less time-costly than they are in an MMO in those genres.
This is an MMO, fine. But names and lore alone don't make D&D what it is. And one major aspect to D&D is the fact your choices have to matter.
Even with unlimited respecs, your choices still matter. Every power or feat that you take is a point that you can't put elsewhere-- everything comes at the expense of something else. Furthermore, the powers that you select for your loadout also matter, because even if you have twenty powers maxed out, you still have to choose which ones to use.
"Your choices matter" does not mean "your choices must be largely irreversible".
Having the respec cost be to high all it does is make people min/max plan from the beginning all people will do now is look up guide on the best cookie cutter build and never experiment.
Good job now everyone will have the same build as each other and never want to actually try out each ability and paragon tree.
You people are so daft thinking the way of PnP from 20 years ago need to apply to a game that needs to bring in more people then just you and your group of original PnP nerds, so keep telling them if they don't like it and leave this game and the population will just dwindle.
Comments
My side of the fence is the moment there are unlimited respecs I would leave. No question.
It effects me greatly.
Doesn't matter if you don't agree. I am telling you it effects me. Doesn't matter why or how.
It does effect me.
1 free respec a week (and the game certainly required more as it was a more traditional MMO, could be changed to two weeks for NW), and then the cost in currency (much more attainable as there was only 1 currency) became prohibitively expensive very quickly.
I am level 30, I am using my points for powers and traits. I know that at level 60 I will definitely be respecing to streamline my preferred spec. Right now I have pretty much picked up every power point ability to try them out, and I have just been filling in the traits in hopes they work and will improve my leveling
This means that I will be saving every AD I can get my hands on. (Well, not every single one. I do need scrolls sometimes, and I am selling a bunch of stuff on the AH every time I play.) Just so I know I will be able to afford the repec at level 60. Maybe by the time I get to max level with my first character prices will be cheaper and I won't have to worry about whether or not it worth it in the long run to spend my time with this game. Respeccing, to me, is an important part of my MMO experience. Not because I like to pick-up which ever FOTM spec is out there, but because my tastes change. One day I may want to be a glass-cannon type spec, and the next week I may decide I want to do something else.
While I may not know how much AD a person can get at level 60 currently. I do know that right now I estimate it would take me a week of farming/selling stuff just to respec. That is far too much work just to enjoy the class I chose. In fact I would wager I would quit this game before I forced myself to farm a week worth of AD with the sole purpose of just playing the spec I wanted. Because I sure has heck would never pay real money just for the liberty of changing some points around to fit my play-style. And what happens if I decide that the new spec isn't my cup of tea? Back to farming for another week? Nope. Nope. Nope.
Obviously tho, with any MMO there will be bugs concerning builds. Bugs that make almost everyone build around them. Which makes the prices of respeccing even more ridiculous. A hundred thousand plus AD guaranteed to be spent after every patch? No, thanks.
Some people think that you should be forced to live with the choices you make in this game. I do not agree at all.
While I do pvp more than I raid or dungeon crawl. I should not have to gimp myself to do one or the other just because they think once you choose a spec you should have to live with it or pay large sums of crystals or shell out real money every time you change your mind. I do not do one thing, PVE or PVP, 100% of the time. There will be some days where I feel like killing other players, and there will be others where I feel like doing dungeons. It's never a sure thing. And if I am forced to spend a fortune of AD every week, that's not acceptable to me. If others feel that their AD is worth it to do this, fine. If others feel it's okay to waste X amount of real dollars every week or month, fine. I am not one of those people, and most of my friends who I play this game with are not either.
What is currently available I am not on-board with. It basically means I will have to keep a certain LARGE balance of AD on hand at all times on each character just for respeccing. Something that is completely ridiculous. I am not sure what the answer should be, tho. Lower the costs? Sure. Offer dual-speccing? sure. Both? Even better!
Respeccing is NOT a luxury. It is a fundamental part of every MMO(which this is, not a P&P game.) Bugs, broken traits...these things are the norm for every MMO. Charging large sums of in game money and/or little bit real money are not the norm for every MMO. This is not something that will catch on and become a standard. Ever.
I must say that I do appreciate respecs being a little scarcer though, but the current way to achieve them is silly.
IMO they should just let us buy respecs with those daily coin things, simple way to give a limited way to respec at a price (not getting that weekly chest thingy or those other coins for long term rewards). On top of that, I think that while still in beta, they should either have a weekend or a couple days where people can respec nilly willy JUST for experimentation, and at least we could get some information about how certain feats actually function. After that though it should just be back to normal. Even better would be to allow us to use the foundry to have unlimited respecs only for the purpose of testing (not actually respeccing your char) just like the testing area in Champions Online.
I would also prefer if acquiring respecs was actually an adventure, like a series of tough dungeons to acquire them. You could have the weekly coins to get them, tough dungeon dives to get them, or just plop down your money/diamonds to an instant one (convenience).
Simple.
1 respec 20gold
2 respec 50 gold
3 respec 100 gold
4 respec 120gold
and so on. atleast gives us some playroom to enjoy the game and fix our chars after patches. nerfs. buffs. playstyle.
Like D&D is that perfect, really? On top of that compare it to a MMO?
Ok, you are welcome to have that opinion..One must ask, wtf are you doing here however..
If you guys do not like the game, go play WoW. Do not troll up the forums to try and ruin the game so many seem to be fine with.
They obviously knew about this whole "respeccing" phenomenon you guys keep trying to remind them exists.. They chose not to add it, many many players are fine with it...Stop trying to chang our game and go play a game you like.
Quote Originally Posted by roents
It's an "open beta" that can't be wiped even in the midst of multiple economy destroying exploits. FUN
Thanks for the insightful comment, you explained this thoroughly. /s
Somehow, a guy who has nothing to do with you in-game or in real life wanting to respec his character without having to unload $6 every-time, so that he could have fun is somehow affecting you so greatly that it makes you want to leave the game. Got it.
If anything, you are one of the very few players who would leave over something another player is doing. PWE would lose more customers if they keep these prices up. It's better to lose people like you who would leave the game just because other players are actually enjoying the game in their own way.
You seem to believe that those of us asking for a change in the current system don't like the game. You couldn't be more wrong. It's because we like the game that we bring up issues like this. Just because a feature was in WoW doesn't mean it's not a valid addition to the game.
This is a serious problem for those of us accustomed to a certain level of flexibility/user friendly-ness in our games.
I would also like to know how allowing unlimited respecs would greatly affect someones game play to the point where they would leave. I guess I'll take the other guy's word for it, but still. I don't care one way or another about the issue; but to all people who feel strongly for no respecs or limited respecs, may I ask why aside from personal preference? Would it make the game unfair because you don't want to respec and have a more natural experience with the game and people who make perfect builds will kick ***? Does the option somehow make it impossible for you to not respec if you aren't happy? Does the forced limited respec make the game feel as if there are higher stakes and give you some sort of rush? I'd like to read some reasons not based upon, "hardcore is better, my tabletop, go play wow, etc." Also, I did like the argument about keeping it close to DnD, I mean hey why not?
I have made several posts describing why it does in detail.
Now I am paying the price for not repeating myself in a single post.
The analogy I came up with earlier was that it would be similar to adding guns to the game and then arguing I can opt to not use them if I don't like them.
In some cases the actions of others don't effect people but in this case they do effect me as a long time fan of D&D.
This is an MMO, fine. But names and lore alone don't make D&D what it is. And one major aspect to D&D is the fact your choices have to matter.
This is an MMO and A Dungeons and Dragons Game.
Both player bases have to compromise.
D&D Players lose a lot due to the fact this is an MMO. And every single one effects and hurts us. It's very much akin to vandalism.
If you don't care or are here because of "MMO" I can understand and respect that.
But it effects me, profoundly.
You have your respecs, against what I would prefer.
You can have limted respecs, against what you would prefer.
Because in the end this isn't an MMO. This isn't D&D.
This is a D&D MMO.
And these things matter to both sides.
Keep this debate civil. I've been very lax, especially with comments made towards my opinions, but this thread can not continue to be so condescending towards other's opinions.
I don't want to remove anybody's posts but if things continue down this path I will be left with no choice in the matter.
Respect other people's opinions even if they are old and grumpy D&D players stuck in their old ways.
Unless of course they can be the first people in history to make a perfect MMO...otherwise this game will down with SWTOR, Tera, and the rest of the games that have a very niche base. But, for the purists, I guess that's more than enough.
With the way the MMO market is now, old school D&D rules would simply kill this game. Perma-death, no-repeccing etc. etc. Those are ideas great for the kitchen table, or basement, or garage. Not for a MMO. An eraser on a pencil is not the same thing as thousands of lines of code. You can't just erase a broken trait, or power ability in this game. And you can't expect people to shell out money or their entire diamond supply just because their preferred spec is bugged that month. Sorry, it just does not work that way.
I said respecs shouldn't be a common event.
Yes, I know.
You have to realize in an MMO they are very common. They have to be. Not just in instances of people who want to play the best spec at that time, all the time. But, because people want to find that certain spec that they like the most. What compliments them and their play-style. Whether that takes 1 time or 10 times, it should not matter. And people should not have to go through Asian style-like MMO farming to get their diamonds just to respec, and they sure as heck should not have to shell out real money to do it either. Making something like re-speccing uncommon, or frowned upon, is not something that belongs in an MMO. Period.
Like I said, unless this company can be the first one in history to nail every single line of code perfectly, you can not expect people to respec rarely. You can not take one of the most common things in an MMO and turn around and change the rules. Well, you can, but you will most likely be shutting down the servers a lot faster than you might have thought.
1) Pargon choice should be here from start, its joke to have no choice in it, when clearly its basic mechanic of classes . Blocked most people to choose what they really want.
2) When they add new paragon paths, they will need to add/remodel current feats, and if they do that, you would no longer have bonuses that you choosed now.
3) The game should be still in closed beta or even alpha, because the current state is joke. People fall for it by even spending a dime on company that clearly want to rush everything just to milk money from you.
So dont bother to buy anything till they add what supposed to be already in the game in closed beta. Open beta is just to stress test and fix minor bugs/exploits , dont let anyone tell you otherwise.
the problem with such a system is really the bad power descriptions lacking dps animation time small vids to show if you think the animation is horrible flavor wise(RP) also this would scare away mainstream gamers and reduce cryptics cash flow abit
as an older player with responsibility's having to re-roll a character would be to time consuming for me in an mmo i usualy only have time for making 1 max level character and it it probably gonna take me atleast 6 months to get there its probably fine for a hardcore player i would quite honestly just find something else to play
If PW decides to keep it this way It's of course their choice but I think they are turning away a lot more money from people like me than people that will pay for the respec or (if they actually exist) people who would for some reason quit if respecs were easier to do.
Expensive does not mean difficult. Boring does not mean difficult. Tedious does not mean difficult.
Many MMO players seem to be unable to differentiate between these 4 words, and as a result we have threads like this.
There are plenty of games and plenty of genres where the choices you make in character progression are permanent and permanently meaningful. This style of choice has _NO_ place in an MMO, where the time investment is already MUCH larger than any of the aforementioned game genres on a character-by-character basis. There are very few to no other games where you are likely to invest as much time into a single character as you ever will in an MMO with a long shelf-life, and as a result your choices are inherently less time-costly than they are in an MMO in those genres.
Even with unlimited respecs, your choices still matter. Every power or feat that you take is a point that you can't put elsewhere-- everything comes at the expense of something else. Furthermore, the powers that you select for your loadout also matter, because even if you have twenty powers maxed out, you still have to choose which ones to use.
"Your choices matter" does not mean "your choices must be largely irreversible".
They are as common as money is in a wallet, literally. No need for tortured analogies. As many as your heart desires or credit card will allow.
Delicate sensibilities assuaged, cash required.
Good job now everyone will have the same build as each other and never want to actually try out each ability and paragon tree.
You people are so daft thinking the way of PnP from 20 years ago need to apply to a game that needs to bring in more people then just you and your group of original PnP nerds, so keep telling them if they don't like it and leave this game and the population will just dwindle.