To be clear, I mean both the gold cost when respeccing passives, and the point cost when respeccing an ability tree. Get rid of both of them.
I understand that some devs are going to protest about gold sinks and choice weight, and all that other drivel, but let me tell you why both of those are bad reasons: They’re not fun.
In both cases, and Goddess help you if you’re suffering BOTH at the same time, you’re limping along with a half-assed build until you’re back up to par, and that’s IF you know what you’re doing.
For a new player that can’t be bothered to go look at build videos or do a deep dive into the wiki, they see that cost and think to themselves, “Is it worth it?” which immediately turns into, “Is this game worth my time?” which is something that you want to avoid AT ALL COSTS.
Other games in this genre have free respeccing, and even swappable build templates. Do yourselves a favor, and drop this outdated concept of respeccing costs while you’re still in beta, and can still make balance changes without people bringing out the torches and pitchforks.
While we’re on the subject of things that are not fun, insta-kill mechanics on bosses. I consider myself a patient person. However, when I have to dodge no fewer than three insta-kill mechanics on Lagon and Majasa, I’m tempted to throw in the towel. Is this Dark Souls? Dark Souls can get away with insta-kill mechanics because they don’t have to deal with lag, and they market themselves to masochists. Get rid of insta-kill mechanics, and replace them with simple hard-hits, like, I dunno, 75% of your health or something. At least give your players the option to panic-drink a potion, and think, “I better dodge THAT next time,” rather than make your players think, “WTF was that? Do I really want to bang my head against this fight again or should I play something else?”