The real reason why there is "downtime" as Healer

[KokonoeAiyoko]

So I've seen this complaint often throughout my years on this game is that Healer has too much downtime if you aren't DPSing cause things "don't hit hard enough". I disagree with this notion. Plenty of things hit hard, us becoming spam heals is not going to fix this.

The actual issue is this: Healers automatic MP recovery + MP recovery tools are so high that of course you have tons of downtime if you aren't DPSing. With MP is given so freely you don't have to conserve all that much for most content and have plenty of space to spam whatever you wish.

What am I saying? I'm saying if there was a MP conserving factor to the job where the MP regen wasn't so high and you had to properly rest or do things to build the MP back up it'd actually solve this issue about downtime.

Do I think this should happen? Ngl no I personally don't cause I kinda like things as they are, but I do point this out as the true cause.

[Dzian]

It's not so much about how hard things hit but how often and how predictable...

this means that scholar for example can pop aetherflow. get 3 charges and be like ok ill have one aoe stack thing to heal withan indomnibility, and one tank buster to lustrate / excog in the next 45 seconds and thats ALL... I can blow that 3rd charge on an energy drain and never actually have to cast a healing spell....

[Sebazy]

I think the issue of excessive MP and downtime aren't really the same problem. Downtime is downtime, regardless of if you have MP or not. WHM was heavily MP starved late in Creator to the point where I was riding my BRD's coat tails and chugging MP pots on cool down to keep throwing rocks in A12S.

Rather a better approach to look at this would be to consider that instead of having too many resources, healers simply don't have enough facets to fill their time with. ASTs are halfway there with cards (And I made a huge suggestion years back recommending that cards get taken off cooldown and put on the GCD). WHM have pretty much nothing to do outside of healing or dps whilst SCH are about to join the WHM camp thanks to the decision to remove most of the fairy micromanagement.

Other successful MMOs have healers setting up combos in advance of mechanics or events, placing and maintaining buffs or even putting as big an emphasis on their positioning as their GCD efficiency. SE just aren't interested in investing the time and effort into implementing involving and rewarding healer gameplay which leaves us in the position we are.

[Pseudochrome]

It's not so much about how hard things hit but how often and how predictable...

this means that scholar for example can pop aetherflow. get 3 charges and be like ok ill have one aoe stack thing to heal withan indomnibility, and one tank buster to lustrate / excog in the next 45 seconds and thats ALL... I can blow that 3rd charge on an energy drain and never actually have to cast a healing spell....

Basically this. The main struggle with high-end fights is that because they're so choreographed, what usually winds up being the big threat is mechanical failure that forces you to adjust your oGCDs. If your tanks have everything timed too, auto attacks wind up being more taxing for heals than actual tank busters. You don't need to worry about MP/MP recovery when most of your heals function on this concept regardless of pool+regen rate and the change proposed by OP would punish lower-skill players rather than those who are breezing through their cooldowns like it's a dance.