"Hey guys, I know I'm mediocre and you don't expect much from me, but would you invite me, maybe?"

That's the kind of self-sabotage I'm talking about.

Meanwhile, claiming things are all well and good because you think they are is no indication that they actually are. I've also seen you, in numerous locations, claim that SE took your idea for Healing Magic. You demand proof from me when I have no direct messages from SE saying, "Hey, we got your memo on RDM lacking melee gear. Keep your eyes out for Brego Gloves!" And I doubt you received similar to your own feedback, just as I'm confident you're not the first to propose it. Point is, you have no proof my "whining" has done nothing just as you have no proof yours has done something. We all know they don't listen to NAs, anyway. :P

What I can do is base things I've said on personal experience, both in playing RDM and observing others. I'm sorry if you think dicking around with Ceremonial Daggers on Sky Gods back in the day was a noteworthy blip, but it really wasn't. I've seen plenty of WHMs grumble about having a hard time getting into good EXP parties because Convert and Refresh was gravy train. I've seen friend, shellmate, and stranger alike chastise a RDM for daring to engage a mob for reasons good and wtf-worthy. I've seen what's changed of the game and I see what hasn't. I don't believe Fairy/Sylph to be some anomaly of concentrated FFXI players leading to my experiences being atypical, as in browsing the gripes of others on countless other subjects, the same shit pretty much happens everywhere and not everyone has turned a blind eye for convenience's sake.

As for BRDs capping magical haste alone, here's what I think: I don't care. Why don't I care? The core concept of their job relies on enhancing members of the party. If that is a role they choose to take on in absence of a WHM or RDM doing the same, more power to them. RDM still has their duration advantage with the +2 set, even though we've been there, done that on how I feel such shouldn't be a requirement for the job. I have no interest in rehashing the rest of the /RDM tripe that's only a sweeping plague of identity lost in your own head. I piss on your nerfs for justice because you display a total disregard for preserving the flexibility of the subjob system in this case.

Get back to me on why mediocre melee damage and being within AoE range justifies some advantages over backline play when you understand you can't be swapping staves, can't be wearing refresh/-dt gear if you still want to be half-decent, and don't have to focus as much on self-preservation. I'm okay with staff wielders nuking or curing harder. I'm not okay with the night and day differences present within the job itself because current mechanics don't play nice. Skeleton crew or not, these are not insurmountable walls.