Please return AST card gameplay.

[ErikValens]

The joy in playing the AST was the random factor of the cards. Please bring something like that back. This AST gameplay is lame.

[YusiKha]

The joy in playing the AST was the random factor of the cards. Please bring something like that back. This AST gameplay is lame.

Not without tweaks, of course. Ewer and Spire's effects would have to be reworked, since TP doesn't exist and MP sustain is self-only. I'd also like to see all Royal Road effects be equal (not x1.5, x2 and, x3) or the stronger effects on damage cards, rather than support cards.
Old AST felt more rewarding to play than New AST, but it wasn't without issues.

[ctcc42]

Old AST felt more rewarding to play than New AST, but it wasn't without issues.

Quoted for truth.

If I had to chose between old AST with old AST issues and new AST I would pick old AST. New AST feels like too much work for too little gain.

[Marikya]

I totally agree! I'd love to see the old AST card system back. I loved the diversity it gave, but it would need to be tweaked since most people were only fishing for certain cards. The new system is boring.

[MitsukiKimura]

I would love it if they revert back to the old system but made some tweaks to it.
Spire 5% direct hit Buff on player
Ewer: 50 potency MP Regen cause Astro needs it
Bole: Defense buff 15 seconds
Balance: Instead of 5% damage make it 3% damage for player
Spear: Increase critical chance by 5%
arrow: Increase attack speed/spell speed by 5%
Lord of Crowns: Increase damage dealt by 5%
Lady of Crowns: When used, Heals player for 250 potency

[Alyssa5]

I agree!! I quit ast after shadowbringers launch but have kept trying it out in hopes i'll find it fun, but it just isn't anymore. I really miss healing and ast was the only healer I was really drawn to because of the unique card system it had. I'm still holding out hope they'll change it back with some tweaks of course in 5.1 but that's very unlikely.

[Crushnight]

Sorry to be the debbedowner, but this is their current stance on the card system


http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/402453
(00:29:01)
Q: Thanks for the adjustments made towards astrologian! Both the controllability and heal potency has increased and it feels much better. Do you have any plans to add new effects to the cards?
A: We are truly sorry about the initial issues with the feel of the job that resulted from various adjustments to reduce its party synergy.

Regarding card effects, they were changed to their current iteration because we received feedback from all regions that players did not want "useless cards." While the current iteration does indeed reduce the excitement of drawing a "good card", if we were to add various different card effects, then we would just return to fishing for the most favorable one, so we decided to simplify it. We plan on continuing with the current iteration for now

I would gladly take Old AST's card system with all its faults if i could but this is something we probably won't see again until 6.0 at the earliest. Keep asking for it maybe they'll change it for 6.0 but right now we need ways to deal with current AST too since we have nearly 2 years of it to deal with.

[ForteNightshade]

Sorry to be the debbedowner, but this is their current stance on the card system


http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/402453
(00:29:01)
Q: Thanks for the adjustments made towards astrologian! Both the controllability and heal potency has increased and it feels much better. Do you have any plans to add new effects to the cards?
A: We are truly sorry about the initial issues with the feel of the job that resulted from various adjustments to reduce its party synergy.

Regarding card effects, they were changed to their current iteration because we received feedback from all regions that players did not want "useless cards." While the current iteration does indeed reduce the excitement of drawing a "good card", if we were to add various different card effects, then we would just return to fishing for the most favorable one, so we decided to simplify it. We plan on continuing with the current iteration for now

I would gladly take Old AST's card system with all its faults if i could but this is something we probably won't see again until 6.0 at the earliest. Keep asking for it maybe they'll change it for 6.0 but right now we need ways to deal with current AST too since we have nearly 2 years of it to deal with.

Operative words being "for now." Bear in mind, this interview came not long after Savage released. We're not nearly four months into the expansion and the Astro population is on life support. At least at a Savage level. I don't imagine it's much better in easier content given the sheer amount of complaints and the fact White Mage is laughably superior in dungeons. Unfortunately, the dev team is notorious for being quite stubborn. But they did do a complete 180 on both Monk and Ninja when the community basically dropped both jobs like rocks. Perhaps the lack of interest with Astro will help. Either way, 5.1 will be quite telling. If the Range get a negligible buff like 1-2%, then it's safe to assume the dev team isn't paying attention. If it's more substantial, they could be hope for Astro yet.

While I did like the old card system for dungeons, it was really just a fishing game in raids or trials. The new card system works better all around, though it is less interactive. A balance of the two would be nice, but probably not anytime soon.

Now I fish for Seals while mindlessly throwing cards on either Samurai or Black Mages because they're the best targets 90% of the time, assuming they aren't terrible players. In dungeons, I straight up don't bother touching Sleeve Draw outside bosses in a lot of cases because that busywork risks the tank dying since Astro lacks the tools to rapidly burst someone back up. It's just not worth throwing out a pathetic 4% until I know things are well managed.

[Sylvain]

Please don't, fishing for balance was boring at best. Cards variety only truly shined in dungeon where you could effectively go oom by aoeing, the melee could lack to and bole resulted in more dps (gravity)
It was boring in raid, bole never up when you'd need and you'd anyway feel bad using it, same goes for ewer and mp.
Always up when both healer are full mp, never when one just died.

In raid it was just fishing for a ewer/spire + balance (crit was fine tho)

The only thing I don't like about the new system is sleeve draw weave spam and the buff numerical value being too weak

[MPNZ]

Please don't, fishing for balance was boring at best. Cards variety only truly shined in dungeon where you could effectively go oom by aoeing, the melee could lack to and bole resulted in more dps (gravity)
It was boring in raid, bole never up when you'd need and you'd anyway feel bad using it, same goes for ewer and mp.
Always up when both healer are full mp, never when one just died.

In raid it was just fishing for a ewer/spire + balance (crit was fine tho)

The only thing I don't like about the new system is sleeve draw weave spam and the buff numerical value being too weak

Consistency is not the point of cards. It's chance, and math https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2317ip172lw