Quote Originally Posted by Kacho_Nacho View Post
Square Enix has been fiddling with healers every expansion, making them more homogenesis, and destroying job identities. In addition, the skill floor for healers has been set too low. Veteran healers are bored.
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BUT, if the end result will be much improved healing jobs and a more engaging game, then it'll be better to do it all at once; rather than keep polishing the lump of manure.
I don't disagree. I just disagree that it absolutely needs changing (lots of players seem to be content and/or happy with things as they are now), and while some people have the position that change is good, I've found in life that not ALL change IS good. There are cases that you can be in a situation that seems bad, but then change happens and you realize it could actually be worse.

SE: "We've ended healer's simplistic 1 button spam damage kits."
Players: "Yay!"
SE: "All healers now have a damage pet, and it does damage automatically once per 3 seconds with its nukespam. Healers' own damage spells have been removed. Please look forward to it."
Players: <surprised Pikachu face>

Though I personally think they should just roll SCH and AST back to their SB forms (with some of their added stuff since getting carried over, like SCH keeping Expedience) while leaving WHM and SGE alone (SGE has only ever been this way and WHM is probably in the best state it's ever been in terms of general usability other than it needs a 60 sec mitigation button if SE's going to keep insisting making mitigation checks instead of healing checks), and then players have the option of picking what they want to play (and, in that case of the world, all four would play pretty differently).

I also don't see SE being open to, or up to the task even if they were, of completely revamping healers and making it GOOD. Tanks, healers, and even DPSers endlessly complain that every rework makes things worse, so I don't trust their capacity to reverse that in this one case of healing, which is the role they're ALREADY the worst at getting right.

Given that, I feel a more measured approach is in order. The SCH/AST reversion, WHM/SGE not, is probably the best solution. If SCH and AST works, then they could branch it out, but if they worked miserably in the encounter design, then players could still functionally use WHM and SGE. And if both worked, then great, as players can just pick the one that is most their tastes. Everyone (or as many as can practically be pleased - SEE: "You can please most of the people most of the time...") wins.