"People seem to just blow this out of proportions. There is 0 chance that the talents would of been so important that they'd gimp you in your chosen field. If you were in a raid guild and wanted to pvp seriously, you could, and you wouldn't be gimped doing it and vice versa."

I disagree. I've seen pages-long discussions over the placement of a single healing talent point, I've seen people use spreadsheets to squeeze out that last 0.05% more DPS, I've seen people debate one stat vs. another for tanking until they're blue in the face, figuratively speaking. Tiny differences add up, and they can make all the difference. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, WoW runs on math, and it's an unfortunate but undeniable truth that lacking a small boost can make the difference between a win and a loss.

Basically, Blizzard cut the choice of talents but kept in the benefits because they didn't want people leaving guilds because they felt the talents chosen didn't suit their playstyle. And that's a good thing.

Also: your attempt at keeping with the pizza analogy doesn't work. Toppings (like guild talents) affect everyone. Personal side dishes don't. :P