Quote Originally Posted by Seraphor View Post
And if you didn't draw them when you needed them? What then?
You adjusted? That was the entire point of Astro, and what many people enjoyed. It requirement adjustment based on RNG. While the system was far from perfect, it offered a unique gameplay instead of the more homogenized mess all three healers have largely become.

Why scrap the whole system when you could just improve upon it? Adding abilities that allow you to somewhat mitigate that RNG isn't discrediting the system itself but simply adding flavor. Furthermore, it fit the Time Mage aspect—which is something else people liked about Astro that was more or less stripped away.

As for the rest of your post on the dps cards... I simply don't agree.
Choosing between Ranged/Melee is no better or worse than choosing the jobs that better suit Speed/Crit/Flat Damage.

Perhaps it 'felt' better because you have it in your head that they do different things. And I suppose there is something to that, it's job fantasy, like using white magic or black magic even if they both just deal the same damage in the end. I don't completely discount the value of aesthetics.
But functionally, you as the AST don't feel the effects of the cards, you don't feel the extra speed from Arrow, or the extra Crit from Spear, you just 'know' that's what their effects are. Meanwhile the DPS themselves that are the recipients of these buffs are more than happy to just get a flat damage buff, and it causes far less controversy.
Feel goes a long way into what makes people enjoy the job they're playing. Why do you think there is so much opposition to combo consolidation? Pressing 123 isn't more skillful than 111 but the latter feels more boring, thus the push back. A big complaint regarding tanks and healers right now is their homogenized. None of them feel different despite all being functionally "balanced."

Putting that said, I found it more interesting to consider things like Crit and Speed because it required more knowledge on how the jobs and stats functioned. It also had a more multi-purpose use. If the Bard's sitting in Army's, that Spear is going to be better on the Monk or Dragoon. The current system is largely brainless. Going back to the comp I listed earlier of SAM/DRG/DNC/SMN. Your thought process is:

Are we doing openers? If yes, use on Dragoon. If no, use on Samurai.
Does the Samurai already have a melee card? If no, use on Samurai. If yes, use on Dragoon.

I find that a lot less engaging than having to know how Crit influences certain jobs. Although, I suppose we lost that aspect too.