"Just use True North problem solved"

[Tsubaki75]

I see it as bonus rather than a necessity. If it were "necessary" as opposed to "bonus", SE would time the mechanics in raids that require you to stand in front of the boss with melees' True North cooldowns. But, that isn't the case, as anyone who has done raided can tell you, there are phases and mechanics where you can't get to the flank or rear.

This is true until you consider Samurai.
Its positionals generate Kenki, which equate to more DPS than any other melee, in addition to affecting their rotation and manouverability.

Not to mention us ninjas where not hitting the trick positional is most certainly a massive dps loss, but to address Johnny, with fights being scripted true north usage is also planned.
Yes there are times when you can't hit positionals properly, and that dps is sacrificed for mechanics, but there are also times during rotations when they must be hit and that's when you should plan your TN usage. A dps loss is still a loss even if it is necessary for survivability.