Then, WotC jumps in and hands everyone a +3 to attack (but also a -1 Feat penalty to feat choices). Clearly, they didn't intend for that 3-point gap to exist... or if they previously did, someone decided they now don't.
I still don't see why introducing Expertise feats automatically leads to handing "everyone a +3 to attack (but also a -1 Feat penalty to feat choices)." Perhaps they decided the cost of a feat was worth an eventual +3 to attack.*
Why are to-hit numbers so utterly pivotal that they need to be maximized at all costs? Yes, every class and most every action involves hitting, but if I hit 5-15% less frequently but each of my hits deal more damage, or I get more attacks, or I get options to help bypass immunities/resistances, or I improve my defenses/healing so that I survive longer, etc. how is that 5-15% chance of hitting so much better than any of those other options, which, perhaps not as directly, also improve the PC's ability to kill monsters?
Heck, if you want to get technical, something as basic as Improved Initiative in many battles can give you an entire extra ROUND right at 1st level and for all 30 levels! What's a gradual 5-15% better to-hit when I can get extra move & standard actions for ALL 30 levels of my PC's career?
Not to mention all of the feats that give PCs more options to choose from including additional powers and abilities that can make it more likely to have the right tool for the job which can easily outweigh a 5-15% improvement to the attack roll, or improve skills (how much does that 5-15% matter when you don't notice that acid pit trap or when you are completely bypassing a combat through a skill challenge?), or simply make your PC more interesting.
To me, at least, is just looks like they decided you could pay the cost of a feat, and get a 5-15% better chance to hit. Simple and straightforward, no back-door errata. Of course you are reducing your other customization options by 5.5% (17 more feats rather than 18) and all of the options those 1300+ feats offer your PC - many of which can help you kill monsters just as well as hitting a little more frequently.
Pay a feat then hit more often - but your hits aren't any more powerful, your skills aren't any better, you don't gain any additional powers, etc. etc. What am I missing that makes this a fix that is necessary to all PCs and not just another bonus at the cost of a feat?
* Oh and don't forget, that bonus is only for a particular implement or weapon group - so the PC is out of luck if:
a) You find a better weapon or implement before you get a chance to retrain the feat, or
b) have magic weapons or implements that are good for different situations, or
c) have a class that benefits from both implements and weapons that aren't the same.
From the discussions, it is portrayed both as a 15% better chance to hit (which is true only in the final 1/6th of your career - it's only a 5% better chance for half of your PC's life) and as an automatic bonus on all powers, which is often but not necessarily always the case.
(Wow, that looks rantish. Sorry, I'm just honestly thinking I must be missing something when so many reasonable and knowledgeable posters think the Expertise feats are necessary for PCs or else they are "worse at their jobs". It literally makes zero sense to me.)
