So I usually read an entire thread before posting, you never know who's going to have already touched on a point you want to make or said something you'd like to address outside of the OP... but then I realized this was essentially eight pages of people going back & forth about the Warlord and decided I probably wasn't missing much if I just jump in and give my response to the OP.
Anyway, so looking at the list... really? This is the kind of stuff that leads to the kind of bloat that
most people seem to despise from previous editions. It's like picking words out of a hat and then trying to make whatever it is you've picked a class "just because". The Gladiator, Jester, Pirate and Prophet? Backgrounds. Hell, two of them already exists as backgrounds and you could argue that the Jester is already there in all but name between the Entertainer and maybe the Courtier. What does a "Jester" class
actually bring to the game? Other than bloat I mean. Same with the rest of them really.
We
already have a Knight, a Ninja and a Samurai. The Knight you can even argue they doubled down on because not only did we
just get the Cavalier, but it has existed as a background since the edition came out. The Ninja has also been here the whole time, it's called The Way of the Shadow Monk, and if you don't think that's the case I don't know what to tell you... I've got brand spanking new players to the game looking at that Monk archetype and saying "Sweet! A Ninja!" If they get it, I don't know who possibly couldn't. And the Samurai we also
just got.
The rest of it? Artificer I could actually see. I mean they tried it, if I recall, as a sub-class of the Wizard and that wasn't especially well received. So eventually, whenever it is they start releasing Eberron material they'll need an Artificer. Mystic is in the same boat really for whenever it is they want to start releasing material that strongly focuses on psionics. Warlord, no comment. Whatever else on that list I missed, maybe a sub-class at best. And they
really don't need an arcane half-caster in my opinion by the way. Spitting out a new class just to fill a perceived gap in the "half-caster" line-up is exactly what we
don't need as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, I voted "other" because it's the only choice that made any sense to me within the context of all the other options. I was sorely tempted to vote "All of the Above" since it's at the top of the list, hilarious, and didn't come with the loaded nonsense of "None, it's perfect the way it is!" Bottom-line, I think we could probably use two or three more full classes
if they truly fill a void that needs it. But half of what's on this poll list reads like a grab-bag of random things we really don't need, and it's that kind of stuff that'll lead to a bloated system... in my opinion of course.