My bad for contributing to the derail. Back to your point.
If this were some kind of minimalist/survivor horror/grimdark angst-fest, I would have no problem with having to hope and scrounge for basic resources and the means to develop *any* skills at all.
But this is a fantasy romp. In-jokes, broad humor, silliness, cartoony graphics and animation. Different mood, different approach, presumably a different audience with different expectations.
So when you offer players a number of functional paths and archetype approaches, and tell them they can combine freely, mix and match across those archetypes and roles, this makes sense to me. Hybrid characters are the kind of approach the game purports to encourage, and many of them work just dandy. And are a lot of fun, which seems to me to be the point.
But to then set up game mechanics that will stymie many players in basic role development - right out of the gate - and frustrate the hell out of those players; that seems... counter-productive in terms of game design and viability. To me. Others apparently differ. <shrug>
