Why are summoners so neglected?

[Cabalabob]

gf posting:
it wasn't till abyssea that smn actually summoned. Before you was told to /whm and heal. and even still avatar summons had too many cons and not enough pros

Me and my b/f like smn as is, everyone would just pick "the best" summon and make people use that 1. I recall playing smn with my b/f and a person calling me out for using ifrit when my g/f already used garuda. :/

FFXI SMN under Tanaka was trash because he had no idea how to balance it and was too scared to even try, sound like any other director around here? But the changes made to SMN under Matsui has put SMN on the map and made it the SMN that other MMO's should want to be. Yes it has its flaws and balance issues still as every job in an MMO inevitably has, but it is a true summoner now and a competitive job.