SAM changes - I don’t mind it

[ForteNightshade]

Amusing how one of the most engaging jobs with one of the highest skill ceilings (BLM) has one of the lowest actions per minute.. more buttons does not mean more engaging..

That entirely depends on the job and how they're built. Black Mage's core gameplay works with fewer buttons because it's essentially rotating through the same handful of spells. If you were to say, take away oGCDs from Dark Knight, it'd become incredibly boring as those oGCDs are all that separate it from being a 123 job that occasionally hits Bloodspiller. Furthermore, Casters, in general, have less APM due to casting.

In the case of Samurai, without Kaiten, the Kenki is rendered completely meaningless. You could delete it alongside Kaiten and just give Shinten a cooldown with three charges or something. Instead of expanding on the job gauge to make it feel connected, they're going in the opposite direction and making it pointless. Per for the course though considering several job gauges exist to look pretty and not offer much else.

We should have options. If you feel overwhelmed then don't use that ability or use another job. I can't play BLM properly yet I don't applaud if they would dumb it down. And in a game where dumbing down is the norm now it is worrisome to say the least.

Exactly!

This has been a major complaint I, and several others, have had since Shadowbringers. Take Bard, for example. The most beloved DPS in Stormblood. They removed all of its nuanced gameplay aspects largely to attract people who weren't interested in the job to begin with instead of catering towards its existing playerbase. Astro has suffered the same problem. The devs keep trying to coax players who aren't interested in x job by dumbing them down without considering how this impacts the enjoyment for those already playing said job.