I agree that it is much more satisfying when you have actual summons. However the reason a summoner traditionally has a variety of summons is for situational reasons, especially elemental damage but also various support and utility purposes. Damage Jobs are designed to have usually 2 optimal rotations with little variation. Elemental Damage and resistance is nearly irrelevant now, and any support or utility is met with player derision. So your summons either are part of the rotation or they go unused in high end content and tend to be the next thing on the chopping block. You can play a little more free form in standard content but ultimately design seems to cater to the maximum throughput mentality, when the primary situational concern is movement.