Quote Originally Posted by SamRF View Post
Personally would rather have more buttons than less. Those suggestions you made do make sense in some way but I still prefer them to be separate buttons. Imo having them seperate is more fun, engaging and immersive since then your button is reserved for a specific action/command, I don't consider summoning something the same as commanding your summon to do something, thus having separate buttons makes more sense to me and I enjoy it more this way.

The earthly star comparison isn't really a good one imo immersion wise since there you basically cast something that doesn't do anything on its own. It's dormant until time goes by or you trigger the ability, here it makes sense that it would be the same button you'd tap for it to trigger.

The button bloat-ish combat is something that's atm fairly unique about FFXIV and it's a big reason why I prefer this game over other major MMOs.
The thing is, combining those buttons can still lead to more intriguing gameplay. If the devs want to keep the button count within a certain range, dead skills that serve no purpose outside of niche uses that could just as easily be merged with other skills block actually unique and rotation-enhancing skills from being added.

Like, between the lines can't be used outside of when Leylines is active, so whats the point of it being a separate button? leylines just went on CD to even use between the lines, so its not like its blocking you from using Leylines again. Merge the two, free up a button slot, then add something interesting in its place that enhances the job further.

Geirskogul <---> Nastrond is one of the best ways they've implemented it and it should be standard across all skills that have their effects locked behind the use of another skill. (Req -> Confitteor, Death flare + Enkindle Bahamut/Phoenix being all one button due to mutual exclusivity, all three parts of Gnashing fang being condensed to a single button so it's two buttons instead of 4, etc, the list could go on for a while.) Given that the alternative is that they straight remove stuff to fit their button criteria, condensing keeps all the skills around while allowing new skills to enter the fray, while also keeping the button count the same.