... Yes, we know.
That is what this whole thread is about. That answer has nothing to do with the question I asked.
My question: What's the difference between your proposed system: ("A simpler way to re establish flexibility would be to remove the limit on skills / spells by level and reinstate the limit on skills / spells by ability rank.")
...and the old system, whose shortcomings
Forktong has already explained here?
In short - there is no difference.
The previous way of doing it was better than the current one.
As a player I want the freedom to design a specialist or a generalist. The changes take away that freedom and force a generalist approach to everything.
Shifting the specialization to abilities will also artificially force players into builds. The world will be swamped by thief bowmen because both gain dexterity bonuses.
Fighters will be straight fighters because of the requirement to invest in strength for improved effectiveness of skills.
In the previous version - strength or dexterity might affect the armor you could wear or the weapons you could use ( all good practical reasons to invest in different abilities). but they did not force your character into a particular build.
The argument for the recent changes was (in my opinion) flawed. It showed a lack of trust in the players. So what if to start off i want to create specialists? Once I have done that I will create a generalist, then a different sort of specialist, then a duel class, and another sort of specialist, and so on. I will explore the depth of what the game allows me to do.
These change to the current way of doing things massively reduces the number of ways the game can be played, without actually improving the quality of the gaming experience.
