I don't like it when people suggest outrageous things that would affect SMN's a lot, but the job is basically on the verge of becoming extinct because it's not worth bringing when you can find a damn melee or change to BLM for better overall damage. I feel like I'm holding back my group by playing SMN. That's how bad it is. No matter how I do, I'll be slightly higher than my static BRD dps, when I don't even ress or virus much. I give E4E sometimes, but that's what healers are doing right now. What's the point of playing this class anymore when I have to put in so much effort than a BLM? High skill play, but low reward.

Anyways, back on topic, I think a "traditional SMN" of FF11, especially, is not the best fit for this game; making it so that your summons are doing all the damage and managing it will not be a good change at all for SMN's. To even fit into this game's play style and mechanics, SMN's are fine the way they are designed except there are some minor things that needs to be done to them, so that there will be some kind of balance. I dunno if getting rid of ACN would solve the problem at all, and if they do, the devs need to find someway to make them unique to the SCH counterpart.

Back when I was trying to pick out what class I wanted to start out, it was either BRD or SMN. I chose BRD initially, but I always had this fascination of controlling summons/pets while attacking. So I did enjoy SMN, however now I don't really know anymore...