This reminds me of game design (and especially MMORPG game design) where, while the designers are attempting to offer "meaningful choices", the mindset of the player base makes it so that anything (talent point, piece of gear, specialisation, profession, whatever) is either worthless (and you're an idiot for using it) or it's mandatory (and it's so unfair how much work it requires to obtain). There's no in-between.