Cross-Class - System = Is it Cancer?

[Shurrikhan]

The main reason Protect exists as a spell instead of a permanent buff is because Protect is a Final Fantasy staple. Removing it it from XIV would be like removing Chocobos.

That said, it rarely existed as a permanent buff in previous iterations; in others, it could be consumed by other actions, could stack, had limited duration, had variable effectiveness and/or success chance, etc. While the spell, by name, may have been a necessary hat-tip, it certainly didn't need to be one of the least interesting forms imaginable.