As is the case with virtually every competitive gaming scene, Souls PvP is dominated by only a handful of character builds, despite a wealth of options for the actual building. The reason for this is one games like Diablo 3 and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim are intimately familiar with: demonstrably better gear. This is reflected in single player playthroughs by a single choice of equipment standing out as the only sensible option from a statistical standpoint. The problem here is not that some armor is better than others, or that certain weapons outclass lower-level versions; that's to be expected of RPGs. Things become monotonous, however, when a certain setup becomes the de facto end goal for a character, when one particular equipment arrangement is unassailably better than another. Weapons should be tiered, certainly, but not necessarily so stringently that adopting a different play style can only be done by sacrificing combativeness. The role-playing aspects of the gamecustomizing a character to fit your vision of them, not the invisible "you must be at least this buff to ride" sign set outside every bossare limited by this as well, as a visually striking armor set may very well be on the low end of gear. Everyone will never be happy with the equipment layout; someone will always want what they call the prettiest setup to be stronger. But beefing up the options and offering more, and equal, choices at a given power level would help to prevent pigeon-holing characters.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
