When I first started playing, I didn't like white mage being the earth/wind/water mage (especially since the water aspect of that was half-assed with fluid aura and is now just non-existent ignorant of lore), and wanted black mage to have all 6 elements like in past titles, including XI. But since then, I grew to like that aspect of the job as it gave white mage more of a stronger identity other than Final Fantasy's non-religious take on a priest or cleric which is otherwise very bland and uninteresting to me.

Shadowbringers moved away from that concept and closer toward the more traditional white mage with glare and dia, but it also has retained a floral motif that helps the job visually stand out more in contrast to standard white mage of older Final Fantasies while still clinging to the earth/wind/water affiliation as flowers are a representation of the elements of nature. Now, while there are still connotations to those elements, it does feel watered down, and many players--even casual white mages who aren't bothered by the job, miss the use of earth/wind/water. Which is why I feel like it's long overdue that we include an 'action skin' system that lets you choose which variation of a skill's animation you want to use for skills that upgrade. So you could, without dropping the potency, swap Glare III's animation with Stone IV for example. White mage isn't the only job that would appreciate this system. There are machinist players who don't like the acrobatic 1-2-3 combo and would rather return to the more simplistic one, for example, and you could also revive abandoned animations like Bio III on scholar, swap Rain of Death for Wide Volley on bard, or other examples. You could also use that system to add all-new particle effects for spells and actions, like Atori's cherry blossom dragoon animations from Bozja.

But moving back to white mage, the floral motif actually does connect our white mage to Aerith, particularly from FF7R. I've said it before, but I think it would be great to see white mage move in the direction of adopting her identity like how gunbreaker does for Squall and utilize her animations for things like Arcane Ward, Soul Drain, Sorcerous Storm, Lustrous Shield, Planet's Protection, etc.