Quote Originally Posted by Exiled_Tonberry View Post
I don't necessarily disagree with you here, but unfortunately you can't have one job play by the rules and the rest to do whatever they want. The fact is, Whispering Dawn and CU don't require anyone to stack and stand in a single place for however long to take full advantage of, Asylum shouldn't either.
That's kind of a flawed way of looking at it. It may not feel "fair", but by that logic, every job would be exactly the same. In my opinion, Asylum as it is makes WHM more dynamic. You have to plan out how to use it with more care, rather than just reducing it to "Click button, give heals". I like how it's more of a team-oriented skill. Its usefulness depends not just on the healer, but on the entire party. And that was what SQEX was really aiming for with the updated role skills and new utility skills given to tanks and DPS. Healing is not just about the healer. It never was, but now it's more apparent than ever. DPS need to stay in heal range. Tanks need to use cooldowns appropriately to reduce damage. Tanks should shield the party at the right time to reduce heal strain. And just like those examples, everyone needs to stay in Asylum to get the effect. It's not really any different than staying in Cure III range. And with the exception of running a few mechanics here and there, everyone should be in Cure III range. Most mechanics can even be scaled down to stay within Cure III and Asylum range without too much trouble. It's just a matter of players not moving more than they need to.

In my view, many of the "problems" with job skills in this game really boil down to players lacking the awareness to actually use them properly. That includes me sometimes too (looking back, I can't believe I dissed Plenary Indulgence. I also can't believe I used to hold the old Spear perpetually, though I maintain that it was a useful card as it was before). I don't feel that balancing the game around pugs and disorganized statics is really the best way to go. Since the tools are all there for pugs to clear. They just need to really sit down and think about how to use them. Having two healers at all is huge. If you stop and approach FFXIV content like you might approach a logic problem, you realize you have far more than you really need to clear the fight. Asylum may be a bit finicky to use, but using it at all is not necessary. If people don't use it properly in your static, teach them how to use it - they're your static after all. If they don't use it in pugs...? Well, then you have two choices: you either adapt and waste MP healing them because they didn't bother to stand in Asylum, or you can spite them and let them die then tell them to stand in Asylum next time if they don't want to die. The choice is up to you (and how frustrated you feel at any given point in time :S...)