Less is more.  If the 10 abilities all mean something and they're all useful, then it's enough.  WoW's problem is that each class has 25-40 abilities and the majority of them don't get any use at any one time.  If you're a hunter in WoW and you're raiding, you're using less than 10... so how is that different than an entire class having 10 abilities total if all 10 abilities have a use and are used often, regardless of how the class is built(if there's class building at all, I'm not up to speed on GW2)? 

In WoW, you're rendering at least a good chunk of your abilities worthless at any one time because they don't fit whatever spec you happen to be.  Shield Block on a warrior becomes completely useless if you're a DPS warrior as an example.  If most of the GW2 abilities see a lot of use regardless of how a character is built then it's fundamentally the same in terms of the number of abilities available to you. 

Now in WoW's defense, when you do change specs, you can totally change the way you play a character so on paper there's more variety to your character.  I don't know if I'd rather have the variety with useless skills over a constant 10 that are all useful regardless of the way a character is built.  WoW adds longevity to a character this way because you can freshen things up without rerolling completely.

I know nothing about GW2 by the way, I'm just talking about things conceptually.

  'Stream-lined depth' is the holy-grail of game development and game players alike. You have only to look at games like team fortress and league of legends to see that giving players simple gameplay does not equate to giving players shallow replayability or depth.

   Those games are crazy crazy crazy popular because they are easy to play but hard to master.

  Limitations imposed on players, when done correctly, facilitate focus and clarity; first for the developers so they can optimize their time and efforts to produce a better game; and second for the players who get to enjoy an easier moment-to-moment grasp of the gameplay without feeling bogged down by 'what if i did this,but what if i did this!...but this might be better....'. That sort of nebulous real-time process only serves to muddle your efforts to have a good time. I'm just speaking in terms of real-time gameplay, not in terms of planning your stats or items or anything; those things can be as variant as they want since that is done outside of the gameplay.

  Basically, balancing skills when players have access to as many as they can fit on their screen is infinitely more difficult and time-consuming than balancing skills when they only have access to a handful at a time.

The more developers limit your real-time access to skills, the more likely it is for them to create a balanced and fun game for you to enjoy.

Completely agree with OP.. although you lose a lot of credit by mentioning LoL in my books. Take a good look at bloodline champions, cause that game got it perfectly right. 6 base skills - 2 skills that cost a portion of your energy which you build by hitting your base skills and 1 ultimate ability that costs a full energy bar. No resource bullshit - just cooldowns. that's how its done.

Yea there seems to be only one hot bar, but abilities seem to branch, I mean some were hotkeyed to F1,F2 and so on.

Originally posted by Yamota

I personally feel the more viable abilities you can have the richer and more tactical (and less twitch type) the combat becomes. People complain that TAB targetting and 1,2,3... button press is boring and repetetive but if you have 20 skills to juggle, for different occasions and in different combinations, it can become more tactical than you think.

So yes, I am dissapointed with only 10 skills and 1 hotbar. For an MMORPG that is kind of lacklustre...

I have always thought that more abilities, more different stats, etc., was great.  Because that meant alot of different ways to play and fight, alot of ways to be stronger, and of course, alot of weaknesses to be discovered and exploited.

I Suport you OP... less is better. It should be easy to learn but a lifetime to master... Perfecting the system and having ablilities do more instead of making more that One could have done...

Originally posted by Warmaker

I have always thought that more abilities, more different stats, etc., was great.  Because that meant alot of different ways to play and fight, alot of ways to be stronger, and of course, alot of weaknesses to be discovered and exploited.

And its a nightmare to balance and leads to constant flip flopping of the power scale of the classes(ie see rift). Sure it sounded good on paper but their balancing attempt was a nightmare that turned many players away from that game (esp in pvp)

Personally id prefer a simplier system that could assure that a person knew how to play their character & didn't just copy it off a webpage & pretend they know it when they have never used any of its abilities before. Rifts Soul system was its greatest strength and its greatest weakness..

Originally posted by OberanMiM

Originally posted by Warmaker

I have always thought that more abilities, more different stats, etc., was great.  Because that meant alot of different ways to play and fight, alot of ways to be stronger, and of course, alot of weaknesses to be discovered and exploited.

 

And its a nightmare to balance and leads to constant flip flopping of the power scale of the classes(ie see rift). Sure it sounded good on paper but their balancing attempt was a nightmare that turned many players away from that game (esp in pvp)

Personally id prefer a simplier system that could assure that a person knew how to play their character & didn't just copy it off a webpage & pretend they know it when they have never used any of its abilities before. Rifts Soul system was its greatest strength and its greatest weakness..

I always preferred a more complicated system.  A system that granted flexibility to the players to choose being which to be strong, decent, and weak with.  A system, especially when it came to PvP, that you cannot know everything about an opponent simply by looking at them.

Avoiding a system where you look and see the oversimplified archetypes these days:  Tank, DPS, Healer, and a Mezzer for spice.  Personally, I hate being able to glance at someone and knowing all the things they can and can't do right off the bat, regardless of how they equip and specialize themselves.

Give me the flexibility anyday.

Originally posted by Warmaker

Originally posted by OberanMiM

Originally posted by Warmaker

I have always thought that more abilities, more different stats, etc., was great.  Because that meant alot of different ways to play and fight, alot of ways to be stronger, and of course, alot of weaknesses to be discovered and exploited.

 

And its a nightmare to balance and leads to constant flip flopping of the power scale of the classes(ie see rift). Sure it sounded good on paper but their balancing attempt was a nightmare that turned many players away from that game (esp in pvp)

Personally id prefer a simplier system that could assure that a person knew how to play their character & didn't just copy it off a webpage & pretend they know it when they have never used any of its abilities before. Rifts Soul system was its greatest strength and its greatest weakness..

I always preferred a more complicated system.  A system that granted flexibility to the players to choose being which to be strong, decent, and weak with.  A system, especially when it came to PvP, that you cannot know everything about an opponent simply by looking at them.

Avoiding a system where you look and see the oversimplified archetypes these days:  Tank, DPS, Healer, and a Mezzer for spice.  Personally, I hate being able to glance at someone and knowing all the things they can and can't do right off the bat, regardless of how they equip and specialize themselves.

Give me the flexibility anyday.

Even EQ in pvp with strict classed had elements of unpredictability, you didn't know what spells that caster had on their spellbar. you didn't know if the target had trash buffs up for protection against dispel and how many they had. You didn't know what resists they had on their gear. My point is you didn't know all the things they could do at a moments notice in the older games.

In my mind you should need to prepare for a fight, not just switch to a different spec at a moments notice and be fully effective

Originally posted by teakbois

Agree, one hotbar is plenty.  EQ1 nailed this.

Absolutely