Does anyone enjoy duties where ...

[Valence]

I like them for the storytelling change of perspective. It adds a lot to the RPG story when it shifts between characters points of views.

The Ranjiit one was too long, but more than too long, it was just the same thing for the whole duration besides a change in the middle.

I think they make a lot more sense when they actually come with actually different gameplay, like the This Is Thancred run playing Metal Gear and infiltration, or the best one, In From The Cold. This truly serves the story well, and puts you into different situations where it's not just "let's shift characters for the sake of doing a solo instance". Also, bonus points for the G-Savior instance vs the Sapphire Weapon: it was a great way to reward the player with something where you can just blast your way through, in a similar fashion than when you get given control of various magitek implements (this is why In From The Cold is so great, it takes from all those elements at once).

I do not agree with giving out more abilities, not because it would make things more intricate (I'm always for more intricacies, believe me), but because it already takes a bit of time when the instance starts to read every tooltip and figure out what you're dealing with.
- I don't think they are the important part of those instances at all, but the narrative is.
- They're supposed to be a small showcase sample of different roles or jobs to players that could get interested in trying them out.
- Having to read a dozen of abilities and figure out a rotation is the stuff from hitting dummies, not something the average player will want to deal with: it's essentially dumping half a job onto their face and telling them "go fight now, no preparation, no nothing".
- Having to read a dozen of abilities and figure out a rotation when you're in a hype story moment and spending ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with it is the best way to kill the hype and turn you off from the story.