Again, though, I think the problem is people focusing too much on rDPS for Savage over literally every other type of content; the large majority of things to do in this game aren't meta-optimised Savage raids, and these problems of meta obsession to the exclusion of non-meta choices aren't a problem for the majority of players, because it never stops people running dungeon roulette, or treasure maps, or FATEs, or hunts, or 24-man raids, or Ex trials, or even the regular 8-man raids. I don't think everything should be balanced around something a minority of people play, especially not when it results in removing mechanics that give a job a strong sense of identity.

There's a reason why the Destiny community is and has always been peeved that the game removes PvE fun and utility because of balancing issues in PvP. FFXIV avoids that by simply balancing PvP separately. Similarly, if rDPS is the sole issue regarding why AST's cards had to be removed or fundamentally changed, you do the easy thing: balance Savage raids separately, too.