The first thing I'd like to address is that didn't Dragon Age 2 come out after Final Fantasy XIV? That's a rather poor example if you're trying to name one of where SE would have taken the idea of a stamina gauge from. And a stamina gauge, your so called 'gimmick', is only something that some other Final Fantasy games before this one had already had in their combat. (Also, auto-attack has been in so many mmo games in particular, how can that not be thought of in the same sense as you're putting a stamina gauge?)
Also, why are you telling me that I need to go play this game? Shouldn't my efforts be driven towards Final Fantasy XIV? I mean, you are talking in this forum to try to come to a solution on this and not simply fight with every person that has a different opinion than you, right? (Also, I can sense your dedication to this game while you're out playing other ones. It's good to be cultured, and it's good to let others know your opinions, but maybe you shouldn't try to endorse all other aspects of other games on this one, particularly when you are trying to condone one. Final Fantasy XIV does not equal <insert any other mmo ever.> It is not bad for a mmo to stand on it's own separate and different than other mmos before it.)
Another point, if you are developing a callous from you combat techniques while playing the game then you are simply mashing because you want to rush. There isn't a need to button mash, but rather, you could just pay attention to what you're doing and your fingers would be intact. I've played this game since the collectors release and never have I had any problems with my fingers, nor had to button mash in any manner.
I would like both parties of auto attack and non auto attack to be satisfied, however, even in my ideal world of both people being happy, I don't know how it would overall work for the game. How is that at all selfish? That I want people to be happy with how they do their combat without sacrificing the level of difficulty or the dedication of players now when they have to manually do everything? You know a person is there and aware now if they are fighting with you because everything they are doing they have to put in themselves.
I said that Final Fantasy XI's combat was not perfect. That is not me saying that it was bad. It is indeed different though, and I think the comparisons between the two should probably end and people should move on from that. Change is not bad, and not every mmo needs auto-attack as a cure all for the other problems in the combat.
From some of the points mentioned in the first post, all the options that auto attack would effect are simply a way to make what they already have in place work in a way that they wouldn't have to alter those things.
Take battle regimen for example. It sounds really nice that with auto attack you would still be able to keep attacking while the regimen is already cued up. However, why did we ever have to wait for everyone to cue it up that way? Why can't I, as a mage, after cuing up for the stacked regimen, cure someone that may need it while waiting for the regimen? Even with auto attack I wouldn't be able to help people while we are waiting for the regimen to be released. You can't do anything that is fully beneficial after stacking for a regimen. Do you think a few auto attack swings at like 20 damage each against some NM while waiting for a regimen to be released is really going to help with the overall success of the fight? People can beat them now without auto attack and do it really well.
My point is that why introduce a new feature that will only have a 'placebo' sort of effect on game-play? Why not fix battle regimens and the responsiveness of regular attacks?