You are right about what BST should be focused on nowadays. I still can't get over the fact that the main job ability that makes BST a BST, has somehow been turned into something of a novelty. What other job has their main ability sh@ upon like this? Ninja still has shadows, pld can cure and take damage, mnk deals damage, blm nukes, whm cures, rdm enfeebles/cures/support, brd supports still, rng still does nice damage, as does drk, sam, blu, etc. BST is the ONLY job where our main job ability has been deemed null and void. Not by we the players finding better ways to pay BST, but by the developers who decided for us what we would want. Of course we wanted stronger jug pets, it actually gives us something to do in these new zones that SE keeps making with no charmable mobs. They gave up on BST a LONG time ago as far as Charm goes... right around when Sea first came out. Aht Urgan was fun, as was WotG for like 10 minutes.
I don't think BST can take down the tough Notorious Monsters we used to take down with Jug pets alone. I miss the days of throwing dozens of throwaway charm pets at a high level mob for an hour or so. Killing Tiamat with a group of BST's and SMN's like 5 years ago is still one of the highlights of my time on this game. I just don't think i'll ever be able to get that feeling back.