Adding permanent class abilities sounds like a good idea in concept, but in practice what it gives us is bloat. After two or three expansions of giving classes more power and more abilites, we’d have more skill bars than a casual player could reasonably expect to keep up with.
Having said that, getting new abilities unique to your class is fun and flavorful. In this regard, I actually think Covenant abilities are an excellent compromise that allows us access to fun, cool new class abilities that dont become a new permanent fixture (which incidentally also allows Blizzard to play around with interesting mechanics in a less risky way).
As an ideal, we all want a balanced game, or at least one that does a reasonable impression of balance. I confess that adding layers of borrowed power in the way we’ve seen lately (and even moreso with class-exclusive abilities) makes balance a practical impossibility, even as I wish it didnt.
However, we have a name for games where everything stays the same all the time: dead. Some players would stick around if all Blizzard did was add new content, transmogs, and story. If the latter was really good, I would definitely be in that camp myself. But thats a only a portion of the larger comminity. New abilities, new talents, new systems engage players in a way that a “functional” game doesnt. Chess is a functional game, and I enjoy it greatly, but after a while, it gets stale without some new variant to spice it up, and WoW is the same.
So I mist repectfully disagree with you: I would rather have a broken* game than a dead game.
*PvP being its own problem, but i feel thats a more focused discussion that starts with “why are we letting PvE abilities in here?”
Oh, N’zoth, no, don’t think for a moment I like how Covenant abilities are being locked right now. The way you’re locked into abiltity choices with arbitrary, tedious restrictions on trying out new abilties reeks of “fun detected.” I love the abilities themselves (and also essences, azurite, and corruption). They’re fun and different and facilitate new playstyles. You can like the reward and hate the quest; you can like the ability and hate the system.
Admittedly, the gold loss is negligable to most. I engaged in some hyperbole. The bigger issue is that these things are boring (but saying things are boring three times is also boring, so I tried to spice it up a bit. Probably a bad move). I have never, not once, been excited to socket a +stat gem. Nor have I ever been excited to add my choice of +stat enchantment. Its a thing that’s done because its a power boost, but it adds nothing to the enjoyment of the game. It’s bland and stale. It doesnt help retain old players and it certainly doesnt bring in new players.
What makes the game fun, mechanically, is fun abilities and fresh play patterns. When I level up, I really dont care. It changes nothing. Until it unlocks a new talent row, perhaps, and I get a new ability. Thats a ding to look forward to, because it gives something new.