I think this reputation is something that followed them from 3.5. Back in 3.5 when feats were 1-3-6-9...and many classes were feat starved and some races were simply not worth it... yeah that feat was a really big deal. And humans didn't even get +2 to any stat too. You could never go wrong with humans (not that you can now).

Now that feats are 1-3-5-7-9... with all these extra ways to get feats and powers(bloodlines, new paladin stuff, favored class bonuses etc) I think not so much. Sure its an extra feat and it's a good thing, but you will not think again (and maybe regret it) when you pick a race that is not human.

Even now though, humans are quite versatile and have good racial features.

Worst I've heard was Female Paladin named "Jay Law".

Then there were things like Bards named John Lemon and Justin Beaver.

I've always thought of the rogue's main role as melee support. The one who plays nice with the fighter/barbarian/ranger/etc. and works in tandem with them to get lots of flank. Turn the melee advantage of the dedicated fighter into an even more unfair advantage by adding sneak attack, basically.

Rogue sucks if you try to go lone-wolf. You really need to coordinate with at least one other party member. Ideally with the whole party. The boards here generally don't like teamwork though, and classes are assessed mostly based on what they can do on their own.

I do wish we had better rogue talents available, admittedly.

Why people still don't get how that(bolded part) works is something I can not understand. It's been like that since ages.

100% agree with everything you said, especially the "more/better talents".

"Honestly it feels like someone who thought that spells were insanely valuable, while also not understanding the value of melee combat, designed it. Nothing's clearer about that to me than the decision that being able to dimension door 1/day is worth 1/4 the entire evolution pool - when, for that same price, you could add 3 more claws and also a pounce (on a creature that can just be resummoned if it dies/falls into lava/gets crushed/whatever, anyways)."

THIS. 1000 times this.

Like many people said, I too would like to see a re-evaluation of the evolution costs. That way I could build my little spellcasting eidolon. Right now I feel that the costs are way too high. Maybe make them 3/Day without the extra cost.

As far as the other abilites go, I really dont mind with the numbers of the DPR, the faster access of some spells (except maybe the Samsaran interaction), the SLA etc. I would rather see all the other classes buffed (the ones that really need it)than to see Summoner (or any other class) nerfed.

The Eidolon is by far the coolest aspect of this class and should really stay as is. As a concept at least. Maybe adjust the numbers of the table or rework properly the prerequisites of some evolutions like level required, evo-cost etc.

Self Sacrifice (or at least what they will be thinking of what they are going through) will always make the PCs feel like heroes. At least from my experience. The "battle" of the event (if there is any) shouldn't be something you put too much emphasis on , I think, it's the description of the tragic events and conditions around it that should be really well-detailed and described. (really, it can be anything)

Epic music always helps especially if you can time it well with the events.

This one has worked for me, while closing the session and describing the final sequence, leaving them unsure of being alive or not.

And since you too are of the music-type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHPYOcgde98

In around 1:50-1:58 of the song you should be starting your last sentence/comment of the session.

Just be sure to end the session before they know what happens next, so as they are full of questions and eager to see what happens next.

If you want, I can share what they went through back then.

Actually, the best way to deal with a FB was to have a half elf bard with that Racial Substitution Level ability which duplicated a "calm emotions" effect (IIRC) with a DC equal to your diplomacy roll.

Dread Necro wasn't that bad for a 20 levels class. At least you got something at every level. Sorcerer only had...summon familiar..as a Core Class.

As for the 3.5 PrC, I just miss the variety. Because they were many a feats and prestige classes. The difference between some of them might have been huge, in terms of power level, but you had such great variety.

As far as I can remember, the majority of the PrC I liked back then were considered very bad.

I can't tell for sure if the archetypes was the best way to go, though I do agree that having to dip 5 PrC was something that did bothered me too.

I think you can make the character you like, either way, and if you're not into minmaxing anyway, you might not even care if your character is a bit (or quite) weaker than he should be.

And, really, you can't compare the "overpowerness/imbalance" of 3.5 with that of PF (don't get me wrong that's a good thing).

*Edit: Fighter also had , as most of the base classes in the later books, an alternative class feature, a thing like minor archetypes one might say, that had to do with crashing your foes into walls for extra damage. I think you exchanged feats for that. Come to think of it, fighter was one of the base classes used for a 1-2 levels dip.