I thought I was being clever by trying to use Shukuchi to teleport past the guards but then I received the "GATE Failed" message. I think this is super lame. I'd feel a lot better about having a marginal ability if I could put it to some non-combat use (like for a puzzle such as a GATE). I realize that this would put some classes at a disadvantage, but each class could have some ability like this (DRG jump to get to a hard to reach sightseeing log location, for example).

Instead, SE restricts player creativity, and I think this is a bad thing. What NIN wouldn't get excited to realize that Shukuchi makes Vase Off (the most annoying of all the GATEs, imo) a little easier/faster? I'm not talking about something game-breaking here. I'm talking about making unfun things a little more interesting because players can handle them in creative ways.

It's not the end of the world if we can make a GATE go a little faster by circumventing a guard with an ability. We can already jump up on the railing to get around them or we can just wait for them to turn or move. Heck, even being able to sneak past all of the guards with Hide or Stealth would be fine considering movement speed is reduced drastically (Sure, you would always beat the guards, but it would take you 2x as long).

I find something like this annoying because it doesn't make any sense.