I have mixed feelings on this - I agree that AOEs can get out of control / sometimes persist forever which can possibly be toned down, but disagree that melee characters feel useless with a mage in the party. Even going hybrid - which has its benefits sure, can dial down the raw effectiveness of a "pure" melee character. I think melee characters can do, overall, more damage and more effective CC than ranged ones. My rougue can one shot pretty much any trash mob (and even low armor bosses) in one round. My warrior can gap close, and cripple / knock down multiple enemies while taking an absurd amount of punishment. A magic user, on the other hand, has the ability to do significant area damage, or to completely throw the fight if they aren't mindful of aoes. Also keep in mind, the Bless mechanic completely changes how area of effects play out in fights, so it's not necessarily a bad thing to have your characters stuck in an aoe. As my characters got around lvl5+ I found my mage to be somewhat lacking (comparatively) on the "overall usefulness" chart - except for the fact that having 2 heal spells slotted is invaluable, and having the occasional chance to demolish multiple enemies if fireball is in proper line of sight (which is not always the case).
I feel like they've struck a good balance by making (a damage focused) mage a "conditionally powerful but vulnerable aoe burst class". They can't single target as well as rogues. They can't survive (or even CC as well as) a tank. They can, however, provide a lot of utility and/or damage if the conditions line up. If you are playing with melee characters, you have to be mindful of them AND make sure any friends you are playing with know where you intend to AOE.
