Quote Originally Posted by LeonKeyh View Post
I think that people _greatly_ underestimate the "engagement" just from having different buttons to press. Ask healers how 1 button DPS spam is.
They're not just hitting 1 button, though. They're hitting only 1 action. Compare that to a 3- or 4-step PvP combo, for instance, which is still 1 button but far from a single action.

At what point is something "bloat" and at what point isn't it? Distinct characteristics?
Yes. Precisely that. What characteristics something must have or how we weigh each will vary with underlying warrants that are by no means universally agreed upon, but being "bloat" IS a matter of having too few or shallow of 'good things' for the amount of cost they put on the system (often thereby pushing out options for better things).

Take the Refulgent Arrow example, for instance. At present its complexity is essentially just to, per .5s queuing period, roll your finger from the Refulgent button to your Burst Shot button; doing that, if you have a Refulgent able to go, it is used, and if you don't, Burst Shot is used instead. Combining them into a single key therefore costs no thought --only a tiny, quickly passive habit for one's thumb or nearest finger-- but makes room for either (A) greater depth or (B) for less used but thoughtful actions to be buffed, rather than trimmed.

Now, you can also go the other route by actually making it viable to hold a Refulgent Arrow, such as by giving it stacks. Voila! Refulgent truly becomes a separate fixture, a separate decision than just "keep doing filler ST damage", actually worth a second button.

But having a non-decision that does not even require the most passive of tracking --let alone "engagement" no matter how pedantic a definition one tries to pass despite its typical use in this domain-- take up space otherwise be usable for actual depth is not complexity. It's bloat.