Quote Originally Posted by Hatstand View Post
I can understand why healers on the cutting edge would prefer the new AST. I don't think new AST is more fun than old AST, but it must be stressful healing content at the very highest end where you don't have any room for error. In that circumstance, wiping because you drew the wrong card would have to feel pretty awful. That said, even if the new system works better for those at that cutting edge, that doesn't mean it works best for everyone, and content should be designed with everyone in mind, or at least a majority. I have faith that if SE sat down and really devoted themselves to it (and read the healer forums and playtested it with actual healers) the could come up with a system that was more reliable while also being fun for a wider array of content.
It is different, you see at the highest level they want AST for padding numbers. They were unhappy with the fact that AST did not draw balance all the time because it was the only card they wanted. If healing at their level was actually stressful then they would have appreciated Bole a lot for easing healing requirements. They also would have seen the value of Ewer in keeping healer MP up so the heals keep flowing. However they saw every card that was not Balance as useless.

And based on AST representation at the high level even they do not really want to bring AST. It does not bring enough and the buffs are not strong enough so it is better to bring a WHM/SCH combo. Outside of those wanting to pad their personal numbers higher.