Sure, some forms could use a boost, but what I have advocated is for shifters to be able to either a) have more power over what forms they get OR b) know sooner what forms they'll get. Not to make them more powerful, but to prevent people power-ranking shifters only to delete when they get their final forms when you could have saved them 30+ hours by letting them know at rank 30 or whatever. This is not a Saagkri-only issue. I haven't even rolled a shifter in...well, a very long time. But take Swan...whatever. He just deleted because he got what he thought were two terrible forms for him. He was a good character I enjoyed seeing around and I'll miss him. If he had gotten one of three other def forms, he'd still be playing Swan.

As for thieves, whatever you think thieves are for, a class built on stealing and not much good at anything else is a crappy class. And only one thief path is the "best at theft". That's a pickpocket. There are thug, mystic, binder, poisoner, trappers. If thieves were meant to only be the best at stealing and little else, then you'd have one path.

I don't play pickpockets, because while I like thieves (or rogues, pirates, vagabonds) I don't like to steal. So, I get the steal skill. It's not a sure thing mastered and can get me killed if I try it against someone who can bash (even if I do succeed).