SMN Why don't we hear about egi glamours anymore?

[ArcaneCarbuncle]

that's quite a feedback !

A small misinterpretation : though I want big and cool summons, I don't want "oneshots" à la FF7/9 ; although it's my favourite iteration, I'm really aware it is absolutely NOT coherent in a MMO. I'm perfectly fine with Demis. For Egis I grew from "nice" when it was all there was, to "meh" when they invented Demis.

I myself dropped SMN (I play it casually and occasionnaly on Savage way after prog, it's still my main in my heart but not in the facts); It happened when its rotation became gated in 4.0 and they cut the "flow" I felt in HS - find the blocked sequence infuriating compared to how transe and aetherflow weren't mutually exclusive and could overlap in 3.0. To this day, although the flow improved I still find the kit a mess with some uninstinctive timers / mechanics. That's why I'm asking for a trimming, and since Demis are much more alluring to me, I ask for the trimming on other things, but not at the expense of other people's joy.

I agree that it is unlikely another magic non limited pet wielder will rise, so that what I'm asking, if it happened, might ruin the fun for some people. But please be aware that the fun is already ruined for some others, and we just got half of it back with Demis. As well as a lot of people like Egis and dots, a lot prefer Transes and Demis. Although there are similarities between egis and Demis, the differences tilt the scales in favor of Demis but that's just me. I feel Phoenix transe extremely flowish and satisfying (during the transe itself, not the weird timer to keep in check to launch it optimally). I still think the pets and dots "prevent" SMN from being full fletched towards Summoning A Primal.

I'm perfectly aware another rework is extremely costly and there is very little chance of it happening. But the moment the desire is dropped there is 0% chance of it happening. Hence we both feel like repeating

Oh, I wasn't under the impression that you wanted Oneshot summons, that paragraph was more in reference to some other posts I've seen over the past few .. well, years.

I absolutely agree that Trances/Demis are flashy and satisfying, the issue I see is that they only get to feel that way in the first place because they are limited. Right now they are Burst Phases, which is why they get to pack as much of a punch as they do.
If you had one Demi after another you'd either have to tone them down until they all have comparatively low output or you'd have to keep Bahamut/Phoenix as they are and keep anything in between at (roughly) the same output as the current Egi... at which point you might as well keep it as it is now.
Compare to Bard Songs; when they where limited - wether by CDs, MP or negative side effects - they got to feel impactful. Now that they are part of the basic gameplay loop with one Song active at all times their effects feel almost unnoticable without a parser. Their effects on Bard Gameplay feel also pretty arbitrary.
Also compare to AST cards which in ShB took a hit in potency to account for better reliability.
I worry a similar effect would happen with the Demis; which is why I'd prefer if they focused on improving and augmenting the two we have instead of turning them into mere gameplay phases with flashy graphics, while simultaneously nudging the Egi into a direction of feeling more integral and impactful on the gameplay.
Sometimes less is more, basically.

I do agree about the dots though, those would definitely be better served elsewhere and are much easier to design a new Job around.

EDIT: Actually now that I think about it, you mention liking HW SMNs combat flow.
Something like it could incredibly easy achieved under the current specification by just shifting some mechanics around.
Imagine EAs giving you Aethertrail instead of Further Ruin with Aethertrail being used to activate Trance/Summons.
This would realistically bring back some flexibility (assuming adjustments are made to EA for reliability) and give the Egi a logical and impactful function as enabler.
Lorewise this could be played off as your Egi protecting you while you prepare your bigger Summons.
Would something like this be a working compromise?