I think it’s mind boggling that their solution to players not spending their attributes correctly was a full rework of the entire system, instead of doing a proper tutorial for new players.
They could have spent their resources on making armor sets that actually corresponded to class archetypes with meaningful bonuses. You know give cloth armor X bonus stats to fire damage. Give cloth armor Y bonus stats to INT, and classes would emerge organically out of the attribute system.
Oh well, what do I know, I’m not a developer.
Also this:
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I much prefer the current free stat system, w/ some rework maybe, either allowing for more clear path to respec, better in-game info about how it works (in this game specifically), or whatever… I didn’t have much problem w/ this and is probably the reason I don’t dislike it… but since a lot of players seem to have issues, it indicates they either lack the (assumed to be there) knowledge, or the system itself is flawed beyond the most intuitive path (again, for this game particularly), both which are bad design choices if one is aiming for popularity… 
Having so many classes restricting gameplay to a specific path seems like a downgrade to me. What it would actually be refreshing is:
A)Make weapon swing speed and weight actually matter in terms of poise damage and overall damage. Right now there are some standout weapons and others that are so and so purely on the fact that some have blindingly fast combos and others not. For example the governor’s sword that is an amazing weapon by all means weighs the same as many one-hand axes but is way weaker in terms of damage. In this game weapons with their changeable runes and distinct move-sets are actually acting as a sorts-of-class, so it would be better to make all weapons fun and practical to use instead of forcing people to use the best out of each type.
B)Instead of having classes for each weapon people should have incentives to use more cumbersome weapons. Using two-handed swords for example punishes players with lower overall damage, defense and mobility than the use of single-handed swords,axes or clubs combined with a shield. On the same note I would prefer for shields to be able to accommodate utility runes such as resistances, healing etc. and leave the character slot open for active skills. Those using two-handed weapons could equip a defensive equipment replacing the medium and large shields (bracers or small bucklers) so as to gain the enchantments that a shield can get without the large defense bonus.
C)Adding a skill-tree with few attribute based active and more passive skills would be a good addition. For example a high-strength character could get a passive bonus to swinging speed of two-handed, less stamina cost when two-handing, area effects with splash damage for charged attacks, reduced weight for plate armor or medium/large shields. Faith could give skills leading to big bonuses in heal skills, health gain when damaging enemies, elemental resistance and damage reflection, mesh armor encumbrance, damage to plague enemies etc. . Intelligence (already overpowered) should give skills related to elemental damage, focus expenditure and elemental build-up. Dexterity could boost critical chance, increase running and walking speed as well as dodge distance, invulnerability frames when dodging, better parry bonuses etc.
D)There is nothing wrong with adding attribute requirements in order to use armor types effectively. For example if you were to implement set effects on a magician armor (planewalker, seeker etc.) set my dumb full-strength warrior shouldn’t be able to gain said effects even when wearing the armor.
I’m equally down for that!