While replaying final fantasy IX, i was talking to my girlfriend who was working on her thief testimony. In the time I successfully stole several pieces of excellent rare armor from 3 bosses, she failed repeatedly to steal her testimony. We discussed at length the times steal was useful before ffxi and during ffxi. The difference was disheartening, only 3 instances appeared in which steal was even useful for ffxi; the af quadav stew, the testimony, and brigandish blade.
In previous games, stealing from monsters was used to gather materials that couldn't be obtained otherwise, or armors that were relevant at the time. I'm not crying about past nms, but I hope that steal will have legitimate uses and be worth using for more than aura steal in the future.