Things that made me love AST:

♥ Casting Animations of Avatar - met gala ballet level grace
♥ Blue/purple ribbons of light
♥ Star/Nautical chart artistry on certain spells
♥ Deep, subwoover BOOOOM of our AoE spell (even tho it was kinda expensive and wimpy, still worth b/c SUPER COOL)
♥ Variety of Card Buffs
♥ Options to turn less useful cards to Enhanced Buff for more useful cards, or Lord/Lady dmg or heal instead
♥ Celestial Opposition being an AoE stun that also gave everyone in range +10 seconds to my buffs (this let me increase mana regen, heal boost, cleric, etc on myself during intense fight phases!)

Everything about AST made me happy. Even during that time period when Stormblood came out where AST was bottom of the barrel and struggled to preform, I stuck through it because it was so much more fun to play than the other healing classes. I felt cool playing it, the sparklies, the movements, the sound effects, and the constant card weaving kept my ADHD brain so happy I didn't mind that struggle. This expansion made me ANGRY. Struggling to keep a tank alive with every cooldown left in my arsenal being used as soon as it came available in my SB raiding gear that first dungeon, then switching to a White Mage alt with no gear and breezing through it with the same dang group of friends...I quit healing. Every time I switch to AST and think about playing, I lose the desire to play anymore. I've switched to Dancer, and I am working on alts and generally ignoring the new content, because the things that made AST truly the most enjoyable are just gone, or so changed that it's not enjoyable to play anymore.

Things I hate:
• Every buff is the same buff...BORING!
• Finding the teeny tiny sun/moon/star symbol to make sure I use the "right" buff so my 3 minute buff is worth chasing...ugh
• My AoE now sounds like a poop plop in a public restroom toilet now compared to the old sound effect...
• DPS is like hitting enemies with a wet noodle
• Healing feels IMMENSELY undertuned--my "cooldown" heals aren't even worth wasting a global cooldown on except they are free
• Loss of 2nd Mana Regen via card
• New 15 second limit on Card Buffs
• 3 minute cooldown on Group Buff ---what, three?! THREE?? T H R E E ... M I N U T E S ?????

Yes I know we have NEW stuff now. But the "new" abilities to "make up" for what we've lost...Quite frankly, it's sad. Underwhelming, disappointing, and for me personally it's insulting. I'm not playing AST anymore, (or any healing) and I am very close to leaving FFXIV--which is sad, b/c I may not have a lot of time since I work so much, but because I work so much I DO have the funds to support games I enjoy. I don't really want to sink money into a game I am not really enjoying.