One interpretation of the idea of niche protection is that all classes need to have that 1 thing they are the best at. Arcane casters should be the biggest DPS machines (in 3.x) or the best 'controllers' in 4e. Fighters should be the toughest. Rogues should be the best fast talkers and sneakers. Clerics should be the best healers and buffers.
My take on this is that that is a bit limiting on players. I think that if you want to both play a fighter and be the best DPS guy on the team, you should have that option. It just means you obviously aren't going to be the toughest too. If you want to play a Mage but also be the best sneaker, again, you should have the option, but of course it means you won't also have the most damage output.
I think that any class a player picks should be able to be the best at just about anything (though it DOES feel weird to me that anyone besides clerics will be the best in-battle-healers, I see no reason why members of any other class can't be great out-of-battle healers if that's what their PC wants them to be able to do); it's just that going that route means that you will sacrificing in what was the traditional strength of your class.
I think it would be cool to have a party where the sneakiest guy is a cleric who worships the god of thieves, the tank is a mage with awesome robes of protection and great defensive spells, the DPS guy is a fighter who dual wields battle axes and wears lighter armor for mobility, and the leader is a rogue smooth-talker who can deceive almost any intelligent creature into falling into the party's traps and who is also the party healer via creating potions with his alchemy skills.
Under the traditional rules that party breaks all the niches and is thus mechanically punished, but I think a truly elegantly designed system allows that party to be just as viable as any other.
My take on this is that that is a bit limiting on players. I think that if you want to both play a fighter and be the best DPS guy on the team, you should have that option. It just means you obviously aren't going to be the toughest too. If you want to play a Mage but also be the best sneaker, again, you should have the option, but of course it means you won't also have the most damage output.
I think that any class a player picks should be able to be the best at just about anything (though it DOES feel weird to me that anyone besides clerics will be the best in-battle-healers, I see no reason why members of any other class can't be great out-of-battle healers if that's what their PC wants them to be able to do); it's just that going that route means that you will sacrificing in what was the traditional strength of your class.
I think it would be cool to have a party where the sneakiest guy is a cleric who worships the god of thieves, the tank is a mage with awesome robes of protection and great defensive spells, the DPS guy is a fighter who dual wields battle axes and wears lighter armor for mobility, and the leader is a rogue smooth-talker who can deceive almost any intelligent creature into falling into the party's traps and who is also the party healer via creating potions with his alchemy skills.
Under the traditional rules that party breaks all the niches and is thus mechanically punished, but I think a truly elegantly designed system allows that party to be just as viable as any other.