free respec VS no respec at all is kinda extreme…
-if there is no respec at all most players just follow a guide or use software like “path of building” and similiar stuff…
-if we have free respec basically the same thing happens as soon as you hit the progression wall as you can see in d3 with greater rifts…
at the end it is all about how much time you have to invest “lvl up new char VS farming respec points” for something like a missclick or a stupid choice…
There could be a confirmation window to prevent missclick, if you happen to still fail, well 
I might not necessarily think that respec is completely out of place in D4 but I just think that maybe it just should not be THAT open as in D3. Maybe idk, cost some gold or mats that take a little bit of time to acquire.
Anyways, who knows what the devs are gonna come up with. D4 is probably somewhere still on Uranus planet, if not even farther.
I don’t mind election. I prefer Allocation, for me at least, it makes me feel like I actually invested time and thought. But even Diablo 2’s allocation had casual respec options. All you had to do was farm essences, and they were easy as hell to obtain (unless you really screwed up a build, which I can understand why you could brick and not be able to farm them, but even bricks have friends and friends make great walls).
As a Diablo 2 vanilla veteran, I highly suggest allocation for character customization… But if Blizzard decides to do election, I don’t think it will break the game… Although I also think it wouldn’t help the game at all.
Assuming D4 will give you 1 account and 2 character slots per class, being locked into a skill tree permanently absolutely kills any variety.
You can make a Whirlwind Barb and Frenzy Barb, but if you want to play a Berzerker/HotA/Leap Barb you’re just SOL.
In order to play a 3rd variant you’ll either have to delete one of your other builds, or restrict yourself to a single build on another class. Either way you’re screwed.
The only way to avoid this is to allow players to respec.
In D2 it didn’t matter. You were not restricted to a limited number of characters. One could make limitless accounts on a single CD Key, and make as many variants of any class you wanted.
That wouldn’t have worked in D3 since everyone was restricted to 10 characters, or 13 if you payed extra money for the Deluxe Edition. Two builds per class just won’t cut it.
No respec also eliminates any ability to theorycraft and test builds.
In addition, it kills diversity. There are no real choices if you want to have an optimal character.
No one wants to have a character that can’t play at the highest possible level. Therefor, everyone builds the strongest build possible.
Just look at the D3 leaderboards today. For example, of the top 50 Crusaders 49 are using the same standard Heaven’s Fury-Fires of Heaven build. Only Achilles has a different variant.
Before this patch it was Vyr’s Wizards that everyone was playing.
What you end up with is everyone playing the same cookie-cutter build. There is no real “immersion” involved. No real development. Just put the points where Rhykker tells you to and you’ll be fine.
For this facade of “immersion,” this parody of “development” the OP wants my game experience restricted to the point where I can’t experience aspects of the game without destroying the hard work already invested into it?
If I want to play different build I can change it once, and if I preferred the previous build I must go and farm materials in order to switch back?
No. Screw that.
If Blizzard goes that route I’m not buying it.
I loved D2, but those days are gone. As far as “Roots” goes. Diablo II was a heck of a lot more different from Diablo I than Diablo III is to Diablo II.
Diablo I allowed whatever skills players wanted, and allowed them to be freely reassigned on a whim.
As a matter of fact, one had no skills upon entering a game. They had to be assigned when the game started. And obviously they could be altered as the situation required. How’s that for “roots?”
Stop pining for Diablo 2.5. Its time for Daiblo IV.
No you don’t
Your title says it all
I remember making a leapquake build when they were still 1 of the weakest builds in D3, just because i like the build. People would go completely mental because my character wasn’t the OP barb everyone was playing (furious charge was OP back then).
Soooo, what is the point of playing a game where there are options, but you could only use 1 build te be ‘a good player’. This takes away the fun, so I agree with you.
I love the realism argument in a game with magic, monsters, demons, and humans that are capable of nonstop fighting for hours on end without ever suffering from fatigue all while holding a few sets of armor, some weapons, millions in gold pieces and ever once dropping them.
Not to mention no one eats it goes to the bathroom, when you die you magically come back, if not on hardcore. Named enemies and bosses come back to life with ease and somehow find enough time to recruit new minions and restock their coffers with loot.
But go on guys, speak more about realism.
But he seems to have a problem with respeccing all together considering the thread. And somehow is not in favor of multiple playstyles just because of free respeccing.
You can still be good by not using the “best” copypasta specs in the game. I play what I enjoy based on the gear I get. If it matches up with those so be it. Most of the time it’s how I enjoy playing.
I hate how poe handles respeccing. It’s basically not there. You’ve got a skill tree with thousands of skills, and you get like 6 items that let you take back one point at a time.
I want to be able to experiment and tinker with builds, not go to some third party calculator ahead of time to plan out and ruin my game experience.
you should probably change the title and original text, if you changed your mind about it 
maybe there could be a way to “lock” your build
until you do that, you can experiment with your skills and after the locking, you will gain some experience when using them and they grow a bit stronger. like a profession system
i mean i am not at all against finding your way
but the flip flop, not living with the weakness of your build because just can just adapt to every dungeon and boss, is just inconsequent and an insult to the genre itself
As long as you have point in multiple abilities you will be able to swap them out with ease in D4. You can live with a weak choice if you choose, I’ll make a change if I can.
i think this topic is very much about psychology of players.
i love to make up a build that is somehow able to beat the whole game.
i will have to calculate where it has a weakness and if its not too bad to compensate it. and when i am able to beat the game with this build i feel rewarded.
some ppl just always want to kill the fastest, want to be the strongest in pvp and never die.
i dont really get the point there.
Imagine in pvp. you find someone with a build that is destroying you and you simply go to a website, search for the counterbuild, adjust your character and come back to murder him. wheres the meaning behind that? ppl will just flip flop around like crazy to counter each other and it will be a whole mess.
It all depends on how fast you can get your new char to max ability points. if it is fast no respec is fine, if it is a chore like in PoE god no respeccing is the only way in that case. Dont like it? Dont respec and make another char, problem solved.
I’m fine with a limited respec option. I like the idea of some form of build permenance, it encourages the player to think and plan their build but doesn’t punish them too much for making a choice they want to back out of.
Just being able to change your build completely at whim doesn’t sit right with me. Blizzard are petrified of placing the player in a position where they could make a bad choice, and that often feels restrictive to me. Let me make a bad choice so I can see how and why its bad, but give me a limited out. I will learn quicker that way.
A game with no fail states is like a story you are not a part of. How can I connect with that?
Crazy opinion.
Respec is essential in RPG. It creates diversity and increase playability. It lets players experiment different builds and find the best set up for different game modes and scenarios.
If you don’t like it. Don’t play it.
Even in real life, if you make mistakes, you learn and you correct it, and hence respec.
Sweet.
Gonna punch my boss on Monday and respec
That’s just being stupid.
Does not matter if it is free or not it needs to be in the game