Ok I will keep this moderately short and to the point.

1) Auto-Attack =
Too slow for melee class and In my opinion is why in FFXI players had trouble staying awake, if their characters are doing all the work and you just sit there staring at the screen you get sleepy.

Auto-Attack is just no good for those players who want to have a interactive role in the game with AA on I'm no longer playing just watching it play itself.

Please have Auto-Attack as a option to be chosen for those who wish it but for those who like to Play the Game not just Watch it can use the manual and far more interactive battle system and more FUN.

2)Mage MP Nerf
Bottom Line .... Un-Nerf the mages. There are those who like the fact that you can solo as a THAU or CON and so what if you are a MP powerhouse, that is what makes it FUN and again Auto-Attack should be an option for those who wish it as far as mages are concerned AA seems to be fine its just the MP nerf thas killing them.

It's cool to solo as a mage and not be relegated to a support role, for myself and perhaps other Melee minded players it makes the transition easier to move from Melee to mage so it doesn't feel like a chore to rank/level another class, but most importantly it makes you feel like you can make a difference in Parties and not just be there for healing or artillery.

3) Levequests/GIL/SP Rewards
The old reward system was better and more FUN in my opinion I felt the rewards that I received were well deserved and earned now when I do them they seem like a waste of time... and that is all I have to say about that.

I have been away from the game for a while due to work and life but when I had time to relax and have fun I played FFXIV. I played a couple days before the patch and was really enjoying my PUG.... after patch .... <sigh>.

As far as the Grand Companies, the continuing of the main storyline and the cosmetic changes to the game in general... Great!!.

Square Enix Developers I hope that you take into consideration what I have said here and at least provide a choice for a Manual (and by Manual I mean basically pre-patch 1.18) or Auto-Attack system in later patches. Please make it fun to attack and use magic with mages again and return our rewards to us it is not FUNto play a quest that feels more like a chore because the reward is no good.

Thank you for your time and consideration