The decayed form of class collapse would be classes based on sources.
Hero (Martial) - Wizard(Arcanist) - Druid (Animist) - Priest (Channeler)
Except I think class and power source should serve different masters.
"A champion in plate armor, wielding a seord and shield, standing between her allies and the foe" is a class to me. That class could be powered by divine, martial, psionic or other power source. What more, I could see a game where your power sources are limited in capacity, and part of adventuring is seeking out more (or upgrading yours).
Classes should be archtypes, roles should be patterns that subclasses use, power sourcrd should be in-world things to hang mechanics off of.
I see power sources as just a grouping of "powers" that vaguely has a theme. They had a vague theme in PHB1 but once Primal came in it got muddled until it a bit. Ideally, you would create great pools of powers by powersource and let the classes pick fleeing but be swayed by their subclass.
So the Fighter would be a pure Martial class, whereas the Barbarian would be Martial/Primal. Then subclass would nudge you to which powers you take.
- Fighter- Martial Class
- Gladiator- Striker (Arena Strike)
- Hero- (Hero Challenge}
- Knight- Defender (Knightly Challenge}
- Marksman -Striker (Sniper's Strike)
- Slayer- Striker (Power Strike)
- Warlord- Leader (Inspiring Word)
- Weaponmaster- Defender (Combat Challenge)
- Cleric- Divine Class
- Knowledge Leader (Inventive Word)
- Life- Leader (Word of Life)
- Light -Striker (Radiant Strike)
- Nature Domain- Leader (Nature's Word)
- Protection Domain- Defender (Protector's Challenge)
- Tempest- Striker (Thunderous Strike)
- Trickery Domain- Striker (Tricker's Strike)
- War Domain- Defender (Warpriest's Challenge)
- Ranger- Martial/Skill/Primal Class (At will Exploits, Encounter Tricks, Daily Spells)
- Bearlord- Defender (Bear Challenge)
- Beastmaster- Defender (Beastmaster's Challenge)
- Falconer- Striker (Raptor Strike)
- Gloomstalker- Striker (Gloom Strike)
- Horizon Walker- Striker (Planar Strike)
- Houndmaster- Striker (Wolf Strike)
- Hunter -Striker (Hunter's Strike)
I still think controllers and strikers should be split into 2 roles. Ranged strikers are Snipers. AOE controllers are blasters.