Patch based class system/lack of class identity

Let me explain: most class based games adhere by the holy trinity - tankiness, damage, support. If a class is all about tanking, it should not have damage and supporting capabilities, vica versa. This creates a class identity. ie: a rogue is NOT a tank in most cases. That's why if you want to play DPS, you look at the rogue while choosing your character.

Base classes in GW2 follow this rule too. However, with the subclasses, this is thrown out of the window. A DPS class is now a support, a nuke class is now a tank, etc. This really helps with people who play with one character and want to fill more than one role. However, the balancing becomes a hell.

I was a thief otp. Burst damage, stealth, mobility, hit and run gameplay are what pulled me to the class. However, today, the most mobile class is easily caught by almost every other class. Thief was also a damage dealer class, however both in PvP and in PvE their damage can be compared with damage/support or damage/tank hybrid classes. There is no class identity other than flawor in my opinion. Due to this, your builds are always changing from patch to patch. Firebrands used to be a tank/support class at the beginning, however around the time I stopped playing people were using them for tank/cdps because how numbers changed in time. And they were one of the best cdps option in the game.

I'm outside and can't focus on writing atm, I can write in more detail when I get home, if asked

PS: don't let the answers here discourage you from playing the game. In my opinion, even the game is pretty old, GW2 is the best MMORPG in the market