Well to further elaborate, I wasnt saying I feared a move in that direction simply because 'video games'. In fact I play or at one point played many of the games it would most likely emulate.

What I was speaking on was the narrowing down of choices due to mechanical barriers:

Lets say a cleric is capable of doing anything A through J depending on the build and can do three things at lvl 1. I much prefer being able to take a cleric and incorporate A C and J...or if I so choose D H and I. But a lot of time when things narrow down to these talent trees you get 'Sun Clerics can do ABC'... 'Moon Clerics can do DEF'...'Star Clerics can do GHI'

I'll speak for a moment on World of Warcraft, but you dont have to have played the game to get the jist. For a good while the talent trees allowed you to place the points you got at every other level whereever you wanted so a myriad of custom builds were available. Especially with certain classes you could go half way down the talent tree in two trees rather than focus solely on one; You could be a druid that have pretty decent heals, while also still being able to do pretty decent damage, but you were not optimized to focus on either role. However now days they've removed talent trees and you only pick a specialization, you've forced into the archtype of "You're a healer cause you picked this build" "You're going to do this cause you picked this build"

TLDR: If I make a mage, I want to be able to choose to shoot fire and ice. Not be stuck throwing icicles my whole life cause at level one I chose 'frost mage'.

Yeah, I see what you mean and I agree in general.

Make your own system, BH! (you have that kind of free time, right?)

~SE++

I've got cars to fix, and a job and such!

I'm sorry, but all I'm hearing is "waaah, waaah, waaah."

~SE++

Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale (and II), Baldur's Gate (Plus Expansions, sequels, and console hack 'n slash) and to a lesser extent the Temple of Elemental Evil video game range between "Good end of OK" and "Pinnacle of its genre". Neverwinter Nights and its sequel have mixed but largely positive reviews if I remember. That's not to say they haven't had some missteps (Dragonshard, D&D Online... though I'll admit I somewhat enjoyed the former) and downright bad games over the years, but there have also been some solid triumphs.

So if you were meaning to be sarcastic... yeah, that's not taking so easily.