The ongoing saga of Tank & Healer job design in FFXIV has been homogenization and simplification since Heavensward. Largely, every additive change that improves the gameplay and depth of a role is paired with at least one reductive change that degrades the current state of the role. The reality is that post-Heavensward, both new expansions heavily homogenized the tank jobs and heavily simplified existing mechanics. However, I feel it is worth highlighting is that it's not particularly relevant to defend or bemoan the loss of specific systems. I loved stance dancing and aggro-management for tanks, but you may have hated it. What matters is that every time a substantial system or gameplay hook for Tank jobs has been removed, it has not been replaced. This means that tanks in modern FFXIV simply have less skill expression than they ever have in the past.

The underlying combat and content design of FFXIV is a significant driving factor in the continual erosion of tank design. In addition, it feels quite clear that the developers have deliberately homogenized and simplified the tank role, which means that unfortunately, we are unlikely to see any improvement in the future. A small part of me hoped that Endwalker would see a massive tank overhaul that would begin to reinvigorate the role, but I should have known better and the live letter all but confirmed their intentions to be the opposite.

Obviously, I cannot speak on behalf of the entire player base, but the constant erosion of tank design has definitely impacted a subset of the community. My retention rate in each expansion since Heavensward has continuously been lessening as I simply don't enjoy playing my chosen role anymore. The jobs are far too mindless, similar, and devoid of the player expression that makes them enjoyable. To be honest, with how Endwalker is shaping up if not for many close friends playing the expansion - I might not this time around. I do not have high hopes for the expansion, because the content can be amazing, but to retain interest beyond the initial playthrough requires that the gameplay be amazing as well - and I have no confidence left in the developers' ability to craft satisfying tank gameplay.