[Zehn - Vhex]

I think it's evolved pretty much as far as it's going to in an action-rpg. It's just a matter of how limited you go. Whether it's EQ where you select 8 out of 30ish unique abilities or WoW where you have your default 40ish abilities but only use 8 anyways and then can get 2~5 more based on talent spec.

I mean, where else would you take it? It doesn't really add strategy because you either can use all the abilities you need to beat an encounter or the encounter designers are dicks and there's a 10% chance it will require an ability you didn't prepare. In which case there's about as much strategy involved as playing rock, paper, scissors against a machine.

Besides, you're already making these decisions. You're building a deck everytime you put a raid together. Granted your card selection typically sucks and you have to take that 1/1 shaman that costs 8 mana to play just because he's the only card that fucking has bloodlust.

Obviously it's not exactly the same thing, but card game mechanics are about as translated into action-RPG's as they're going to be.

Eventually some company that isn't made up entirely of marketing departments will make a MTG style game online that isn't based off micro-transactions so those of us who aren't stupid enough to drop 800 bucks on a card game we could make with 20 bucks worth of ink, 5 bucks worth of paper and a laminating machine can play along too.**

Eventually some company will introduce a MTG:O style game for 10 bucks a month and be done with it. I'd murder my family for the WoW CCG to be ported right into WoW and unlocked for an additional 5 bucks a month on my subscription to be able to play.

**It was only 500 bucks worth of cards before I realized what I was doing and got out. Seriously, coke seemed like a more reasonable habit.