classes feeling the same..

games are make for having fun with them;
if you have fun with PoE, awesome
othercase look elsewhere...

Sounds like you're just playing it different. From what i'e read, it sounds like the classes are very different from each other. But I don't know, haven't played it yet.

I think the classes are distinct enough to matter but varied enough to offer tons of customization. The main way I think they are distinct is that not only is the starting position different for each class, but you can never "step through" the starting position of the other classes.

Study the passive tree and think about that. Even though your starting position may be close to another class, there is no way (unless you waste tons of skill points) to easily get to all 4 starting nodes of another class, and those 4 nodes are typically pretty strong and focus primarily on the options that are most suited to the class.

This also means you cannot go straight to a different class's starting point and then choose any direction from there, because for you, the 4 starting nodes are dead ends, instead of bustling intersections. :)

Also, for the first playthrough and even possibly the second or third, the skill gem rewards that are unique to each class are very important too and make it much easier to make certain builds with certain classes.

People who say the class choice doesn't matter at all are not realizing the importance of these things.

its nice to have unlimited options, but its even nicer when you have UNIQUE options along with unlimited options. i definitely agree that some things should be to certain classes. it'll make it more interesting and give more diversity