A big fear of mine actually ties in greatly with your concern.
My biggest problem with class based games is that nobody looks at the name, only the class. People become less of an issue because every paladin is the same and every cleric is the same.
Groups start with, "Group needs cleric, ready to roll." Now if there are druids or shamans or whatever that can heal but not quite as well as a cleric they are unwanted. Then later in the game
it comes down to, "Group needs cleric with uber set, ready to roll." If there are clerics with the awesome sets but not the uber sets they are unwanted.
Customization is partly the answer as long as it does not become a meta either. We dont want "Group needs Ultimate Healer Cleric with Uber set" becoming a thing.
I understand it is very hard to balance, especially each additional option you provide, but I would much rather see people making spreadsheets of roles and documenting how good PLAYERS were, not
classes or gear sets or path choices.
Kurgon999 said: Some of the problems with MMOs these days are the people playing them."
It can be used as a litmus test:
If people don't want their pixels to play with my pixels because of their subjective opinion, then they probably aren't the type of person I want to hang around with anyway.