If you had a magic wand and could add three things, what would it be?

[Shurrikhan]

Those are the same people benching RDM because it "works harder than SMN but doesn't output more damage" and insisting that even if RDM did output the same damage, it would still be benched because SMN is easier, and demanding that SMN do less damage and RDM do more.

They're literally not the ones benching RDM, or anyone else. They already put out way tf more damage than is necessary to clear Savage even if they stacked 2 WHMs, 2 PLDs, and 4 DNC. To those actually optimizing their jobs, this is a non-issue.

Only the hardcore are making those arguments and even advocating for Raises to be removed from SMN and RDM "so they can be properly balanced against BLM and the Melee".

No, the one's complaining about feeling overtaxed for Verraise and preferring a balancing scheme for it that isn't based on somehow meeting Enrage despite having Verraised as much as they possibly can... are the RDMs being blocked from parties on the basis that their damage isn't reliable enough, which the devs in turn tell them is because they have Verraise, which --in the parties that do this denying-- can't even net a clear because the party does so little damage that the Weakness debuffs even after Verraise sees use is still enough to wipe them to enrage.

Casuals aren't the ones asking for the changes. "making things easier" doesn't mean "...for casuals", as hardcore players also often want things to be easier in the sense that easier means more reliable, which is good for clearing difficult content.

By all means, find me the "hardcore" player asking for a circular Overpower, no Kaiten, Summoner's simplifications, Bard's iconic components being stripped away, etc., etc.

I've seen here and on Reddit Bards who can't even be bothered to hit Refulgent Arrow who were complaining that their Soul Voice depended on DoT uptime. I can find you many saying that pre-EW Summoner was unbearably hard. I can find many saying that it was just too hard to aim their conal AoEs.

But a "hardcore" player? None of those things were remotely relevant to them. If Kaiten had been left to "hardcore" players' preferences, at most it would have changed from +50% damage to "Guarantees a Critical Hit, with increased damage based on Critical Hit chance," with none of its massive slew of trickle-down effects. They were not the target of those changes, nor any other gameplay simplification.