From the other perspective...

Back in HW when I hit Lvl. 60 SMN, I took one look at the rotation that had Aetherflow used in DWT and promptly threw it in the trash and never looked at it again. SMN was hard enough already and using Aetherflow in DWT made it even more complicated. Like, it had a 60 sec rotation that was mechanically the same every time (except for what buffs were available) and why was I trying to make the rotations "lopsided" by trying to cram in Aetherflow abilities into DWT every few rounds?

So I pretty much used Aetherflow outside of DWT almost exactly like we're doing right now. It meant that I could stretch the Atunment stacks out to 90 sec if I had to, which was better then risking loosing them (I thought).

Now granted, that was back when Aetherflow abilities had 10 sec CD time and Atunement stacks only lasted 30 sec. It might be different now. However, the only thing I've had to re-learn is using Aetherflow after DWT instead of before, and pretty much every class has some ability to relearn. So that's no biggie.

The best thing about the aetherflow lockout is that it gives *new* SMNs an idea of when to use their aetherflow correctly and gives the job a more obvious structure (and it's one of the worst jobs when it comes to structure). It also means that there's not some hidden rotation out there for people to go looking for so they can get really good at the job. Instead, everyone needs to practice the same thing.

From a job flavor standpoint, I like that the lockout is there. Using aetherflow stacks in DWT reminds me a lot of Machinest and how they dump all their oGCDs into Wildfire. We don't need two classes (both with pets!) to have that type of gameplay. So now we have one class that dumps all their oGCDs into a tiny window and one that cycles through three different "modes".

All I can say is that if we do get Aetherflow stacks in DWT back, I'm not going to be using them then. If I wanted to play a class that had a bunch of oGCDs crammed into a short period of time, I'd be playing Machinest instead.