CUSTOMIZATION VS. COLLECTION

In a project I'm working in a team on, I had a game design conversation the other day that went something like this:

Other Designer: The problem with this game is that people are all the same at max level. People should get some reward for choosing a role and specializing in it.

Me: I'd agree in a game where you control a party of character, but you only get one character in this game. If you specialize in a role, you're permanently locked out of other roles.

Other designer: Exactly. People need to feel like they've created something unique, that anyone else who hits max level can't just switch a few settings around and do all the same things. In a game with over a lot of classes, the classes need to each provide something that you can only get from that class, and you need to be forced to pick one. It creates replay value.

Me: I completely disagree. I don't want replay value, because replay value is just another way of saying that the player irreversably loses out on things. I want to keep becoming more and more powerful. I want versatility. After 300 hours played, I don't want to have to start over for any reason. This is my character and I intend to keep using it until it can do everything. I'm attracted to games like FF5 and FF Tactics for exactly this reason: I can collect dozens and dozens of different powers that build upon each-other and are useful in all sorts of wild situations and eventually I'll have a mind-blowing array of options. I want to eventually be able to do everything: that's the whole point, to me, of a job system with so many possibilities. What's the advantage to being locked out of something?

Other designer: You can't just decide that for people. People who aren't you actually enjoy creating something unique. They enjoy having all their thought and planning and careful crafting of their character actually matter. If they can just collect everything by level 70 and then freely change between it all, there's no real customization. Everyone is the same and thus all those classes lose their charm. You're not a grand master monk or grand master archer or grand master samurai, you're just a max level generic dude. We need to add ways to let people choose one class and specialize in it, and ultimately become as powerful as if they directionlessly tossed themselves at every class.

I am heavily paraphrasing him and possibly misremembering or omitting parts of some points on account of not having a log of the actual conversation handy. Sorry, other designer. Hopefully I made you sound intelligent.

So, I was wondering what opinions other people had on this topic. These are two viewpoints that are at direct odds with each-other, and both seem to have merits: strong customization that is extremely difficult or impossible to reverse with the end goal of eventually mastering a specific role and building a unique character, vs. massive collection of all powers in the game with the end goal of eventually mastering the system itself and having maximum versatility. Do people have fond memories of games that allow one rather than the other? Do people find themselves drawn more to one type of game? Anyone have any other logical reasons in favor of either idea they want to discuss, or think the above points are flawed?

Anyone who just likes FF4-style games where you have no customization at all can probably just steer clear of this topic.