It makes zero sense for the PLD class to have three different skills for AoE

[TouchandFeel]

A shield equaling 10% max HP is functionally the same as a 10% max HP buff that heals that amount, you essentially get a temporary cushion of 10% max HP to soak damage.

Doing it as a shield basically streamlined it by removing the two-step approach of an HP buff and a heal, consolidating it into one effect and removing any other potential complications such as regens/medicas affecting the HP buff ability during it's duration and increasing its potential potency.

While asking for specifically an AoE shield wasn't common, it is pretty easy to see the translation of the asked for ideas and what was provided.

Also context matters. At the time there were a lot of tank complaint threads going on involving DRK and WAR. There was a general consensus among many if not most tanks weighing in on the issues that both WAR and DRK should get some form of AoE/Partywide utility, hence why something like a 10% HP shield didn't seem imbalanced, because all the tanks would have something fairly equivalent.

So yes WAR mains as well as other tanks in the community DID ask for SiO to be changed into an AoE utility skill akin to what we got, as well as asking for DRK to get something too. The problem was that WAR got many of the things and considerations being asked for and quite quickly and comprehensively while DRK did not get an AoE utility ability along with many of the other issues/things asked for addressed. Giving to one and not to others created the imbalance.

EDIT:

Back on the topic of PLD AoE ...
One potential issue that I see with consolidating down the AoE abilities into one that does damage and enmity is in situations there are multiple tanks, like alliance raids, and the OT PLD is spamming their AoE ability and potentially stealing threat from the MT. Then again that is really no different than DRKs and Abyssal which isn't really a problem, that and such situations are rare and the impact is pretty negligible.
Anyways, just mulling over this stuff a little.

[Lyth]

...

I suspect that a lot of abilities that previously used TP will simply become free, including AoEs. If you look at WAR, the only actions which use TP outside of combo actions are Tomohawk and Overpower. There's not really a point in keeping an entire resource bar just for these two actions.

A second reason is that in lower level dungeons, when your tank bottoms out on resources from using Flash/Overpower, they're forced to tab single target through the mobs to hold enmity. The whole system becomes simpler if you have a base enmity AoE that is free but doesn't do all that much damage.

I think the easiest solution is this:

PLD:
Merge Flash and Total Eclipse to create a single action that does low damage and generates enmity, with no attached cost.

Add in a second action that doesn't generate enmity, but is a high magical damage AoE that can work in conjunction with Requiescat. I'm thinking something along the lines of Agrias' (FFT) Judgement Blade or Divine Ruination/Holy Explosion. Some of these animations are already in the game anyways.

I'd also suggest that Requiescat be ranged, so that you could cast your big Holy spells (i.e. Holy Spirit/Judgement Blade) while starting from range.

WAR:
Remove the cost from Overpower, and have it provide similar damage to PLD's baseline enmity move.

I don't think there's really a problem with IR-Decimate. The damage strikes me as a tuning issue. I do think that Steel Cyclone, in its present burst self-healing stance-penalty ignoring form, needs to go. Decimate should be your baseline gauge spender regardless of stance.

If nostalgia requires you to keep the action, just turn it into an upgraded form of Overpower depending on level sync, and just drop the self-healing.

DRK:
I think this is the tricky one.

I think that we need to get rid of Unleash, because it doesn't really get used at higher levels. Either Unleash should upgrade into Abyssal Drain at a higher level, or Abyssal Drain should just replace Unleash altogether as the baseline enmity move.

As for costs, I think Abyssal is the least likely of the three baseline enmity moves to become free. You are casting a spell, after all. There are a couple of ways that you could offset this additional cost, however. I think the easiest way to do so is to have Blood Weapon proc off of spells in addition to weaponskills, and keep it stance independent (replacing Blood Price altogether).

Alternatively, you could have it offer a bit of baseline self healing or a bit of extra damage to offset the price tag.

...

As you pointed out elsewhere, the burden of proof is on the poster, not the reader, and it's up to them to provide the appropriate context for a suggestion.

And no, the word "snide" implies that I was being indirect in my views on the matter. I was fairly explicit.

...

I remember that old 3.x meme:
"WAR is powerful because it is superiorly designed. Don't nerf WAR, buff PLD/DRK."

Funny thing is, I even remember the MogTalk episode where it originated from, back in 2015, before everyone started parroting it. Oddly enough though, when PLD had a superior redesign at the start of Stormblood, everyone seemed to suddenly lose their minds over it.

I don't think it's necessarily even an issue of power balance. It's about change. MMOs often rely on a formula to push out regular content. But when things become too consistently formulaic, your longstanding players start to lose interest. Change is necessary.

This is true for raid compositions as well. Most groups preferentially looked for a WAR, SCH, and BRD since at least 2014. In a game that's going to have 17(+1) jobs next expansion, we ought to be seeing a lot more variety than we presently do.

I didn't mind Heavensward, even though it favoured WAR even more heavily than present. I didn't even mind the pride over how strong WAR was compared to the other two tanks. You had to work harder on DRK, but you were also valued for it.

I didn't even mind the start of Stormblood. DRK was probably hit hardest by the expansion changes, but the devs promised to rein in WAR's power, and to an extent they did. Everyone now had some sort of penalty for changing stances. Everyone now had to deal with resource management. PLD was a clear cut winner, but DRK and WAR were the closest in performance that they've ever been. And after a two-year draught, there's nothing wrong with giving PLD a little time in the sun. Change is good.

What I do object to is the dev response to community requests between 4.0 to 4.2. You had a few vocal, but influential players going on about how unfair the situation was for WAR, and on how they needed either lots of utility buffs or a dps advantage to compensate. You also had people spreading misinformation about how DRK had suddenly gone from being the most difficult tank to the easiest, simply because we only had one dps combo (protip: we always did). And what's worse, a lot of WAR players bought into this without formulating their own opinions, and just kept parroting it back.

I think that's part of what caused a shift in how we think about DRK. In Heavensward, every time we saw a drawback on our actions, the response was: "We'll just deal with it, this job is supposed to have a high skillcap." Living Dead is terrible? We'll deal with it. Shadow Wall is the weakest of the "30% DR" cooldowns? We'll deal with it. High APM and more unforgiving play than WAR for less rewards? We'll just get better and beat them at their own game.

But if I'm playing the "easiest tank job", I suddenly don't want to put up with that anymore. And when I look back at 6 years of WAR being a lock-in to most raid teams, I also don't want to put up with that any more, either. I don't mind if DRK is at a disadvantage compared to other tanks, even in the coming expansion. I just don't want to see the WAR/SCH/BRD trinity as guaranteed raid slots. And I would take any amount of nerfs to both my job, and to tanking as a whole, to see a change finally happen, and to prevent things from getting stagnant.

[Kalise]

I suspect that a lot of abilities that previously used TP will simply become free, including AoEs. If you look at WAR, the only actions which use TP outside of combo actions are Tomohawk and Overpower. There's not really a point in keeping an entire resource bar just for these two actions.

Honestly, I'd be interested to see if they actually end up making resources matter in 5.0 for all classes. So instead of "Spam the best DPS combo ad infinitum" there's a sense of having to use an alternate combo that takes less MP to as to not run dry or to regen up for a burst phase where you want to access your higher damaging combo for the duration.

I just don't want to see the WAR/SCH/BRD trinity as guaranteed raid slots. And I would take any amount of nerfs to both my job, and to tanking as a whole, to see a change finally happen, and to prevent things from getting stagnant.

Inb4 GUN/DNC/BRD are the guaranteed raid slots for the next 6 years.

[Jandor]

Inb4 GUN/DNC/BRD are the guaranteed raid slots for the next 6 years.

I think they'll surprise us all.

GNB/DNC/MCH