I'm going to humor your arguments because I'm bored, despite the fact that none of your arguments hold because all of them could be said about Dark Knight as it's role as a DPS and SE has shown they can turn it into a tank. All what a SAM can do a WAR can do as a tank? I can say the exact same thing for SAM dps. That it can't provide anything that a MNK or DRG can't. Get out of here with that senseless logic because with that idea there shouldn't be anything except 1 tank, 1 healer, and 1 dps job.
There is nothing wrong with with all the tanks being slashing damage. If anything it helps synergize with Warrior's Storm's Path debuff. for a SAM/WAR tank combo for 8man content.but let's do a bit of braimstorming, since you seems to think that creativity can create anything...
- Two hand katana. even if they go with two katana, more ronin, it will not change the type. slash type same as the warrior.
Some can argue Warrior's Wrath mechanic is a type of magic. Samurai can easily have magical or spiritual aspects added to them if SE wanted, imbuing their weapons with ancestral energy (Warrior's Inner beast is connected to the soulstone and their supposed ancestor's.)- no magical power involved, same as the warrior.
By this logic DRK shouldn't be added either since they have parry and dodging as well as defensive buffs just like Warrior has. (Vengeance, Inner beast, Foresight)- only the parry and dodge as defense, same as the warrior.
This isn't FFXI. Even if SAM gets added as DPS it won't have Skillchains. Stop trying to make it FFXI's SAM because it won't be.make it skill chain based? why give this to a tank when it's clearly something that can be more interesting as dps.
A new tank doesn't necessarily have to change the formula on what it means to be a tank. It can (and likely will) still be a heavy armored meat wall. Besides, there's numerous mechanics they can give the samurai tank, like the OP posted. Or a system that builds stacks every time the samurai parries an attack, these stacks can reduce the damage SAM takes passively, or can be spent for other moves similar to wrath stacks if they wanted. I can think a many, many, many more unique things SAM can offer as a tank.you are the one that refuse to admit that samurai will bring nothing news and fresh to the tank role. you can try to create anything, but it will fall into what the other three tank do...
And you are clinging way too much on the vague comment Yoshi-P said about his thoughts on a DPS samurai. It was not a hard confirmation and was just an opinion that offers little weight in the end. Yoshi-P has said many things with more assurance then that comment that has turned out to be untrue (Like personal housing prices.)they have think at samurai as tank because it's the only other jobs that can really fit as 2 hand sword user. and that don't change that yoshi-p have said since then that the samurai for him will be more a dps if it's added.