As I raise my 7th crafting class, a thought came to me while I was updating my macros.

Rather than have this text-based system that we currently have, why not replace the macro commands with icons from the Actions and Traits window instead and place them on a list similar to the required materials list in the crafting window or the Gear Set list? This would make macros more drag-and-drop and controller-friendly at the same time.

The User Macros window could automatically open the Actions and Traits window, allowing the player to assign abilities from the various categories (probably requiring a new category for Macro-specific commands like a modified Wait [see below] and Macroicon).

You can replace the Wait command by just performing the next step when the global cooldown expires or (in the case of instant abilities) when the animation is finished and the system will accept commands again. By removing Wait, you can cut it down to a window that'll take 8-10 commands, rather than 16 that Wait usually eats half of.

The Wait command can then be turned into a pause that allows you to make a decision on whether to let the macro continue or activate a new one at that step (such as what to do on an Excellent condition), rather than it being required (also unreliable and a waste of a line) just because the system needs to wait X time between commands for the animation/casting timer to finish. It should probably still be on a timer like 3 seconds, but a prompt would work as well, or just make a 'Wait for Prompt' and 'Wait X seconds' as separate commands.

Getting a total CP/MP/TP cost for all the given commands in it would also be nice, and so would a total potential quality/progress/potency if nothing out of the ordinary happens and everything succeeds.

Is that too much?