We are approaching a button bloat problem that can be solved

[Evergrey]

I don't like the combined 1-2-3 button.
Even in PvP I slot 3 of those combo buttons so I can still manually press the 1, 2 ,3 keys.

I'm perfectly fine with skills that have a second prog (Like RPR's Shroud abilities or the DRK's Salter Earth) to change into the second prog.
But leave the 1-2-3 rotations as they are.
I'd hate to press 1 single key over and over while other skills are still on cooldown.

[DezereDawn]

I don't like the combined 1-2-3 button.
Even in PvP I slot 3 of those combo buttons so I can still manually press the 1, 2 ,3 keys.

well that means both ends can have their preference, not everyone has the same amount of comfortable keybinds they can allocate to a job, so consolidating unnecessary bloat is intrinsically a good idea, as long as it doesn't come at the cost of actual gameplay like Kaiten's removal removing Kenki management entirely

[Evergrey]

well that means both ends can have their preference, not everyone has the same amount of comfortable keybinds they can allocate to a job, so consolidating unnecessary bloat is intrinsically a good idea, as long as it doesn't come at the cost of actual gameplay like Kaiten's removal removing Kenki management entirely

It's sad when characteristic skills get removed, yeah.
I still miss the dot the DRK once had.
The animation was also sweet.
So, yeah. It's not that we're approaching a button bloat for the first time.
We've had skill purges before to ease the bloat.

[Saimeren]

I don't like the combined 1-2-3 button.
Even in PvP I slot 3 of those combo buttons so I can still manually press the 1, 2 ,3 keys.

I'm perfectly fine with skills that have a second prog (Like RPR's Shroud abilities or the DRK's Salter Earth) to change into the second prog.
But leave the 1-2-3 rotations as they are.
I'd hate to press 1 single key over and over while other skills are still on cooldown.

My biggest concern with merging the basic combo into one button is the lack of choice when it comes to your attacks. Sure, you hit 1, 2, 3.

But often times the middle ability offers either a heal or MP or something.

In the case of the Paladin for example, if my team is struggling or half dead and I need to enter a survival mode, hitting 1, 2, 1, 2 over and over gives me a lot more extra MP that I can then use to heal myself. Once topped up I can go back to the standard rotation and start focusing on damage again until I need to heal and regen MP again.

Consolidating that combo into one button takes that option away entirely. Whether or not people think MP generation survival mode is dumb or cleverer is irrelevant. Simply talking away the option because you don't like pressing buttons isn't the best course of action.

[Packetdancer]

I don't like the combined 1-2-3 button.
Even in PvP I slot 3 of those combo buttons so I can still manually press the 1, 2 ,3 keys.

I mean, I'll admit that I share your general dislike of combos cycling through keys -- hitting three separate keys for the Gnashing Fang chain (with one oGCD between each) felt more satisfying to me than alternating one GCD and one oGCD on the same two keys three times -- since it basically feels like what I do as a healer main ANYWAY (hitting one button for my primary attack over and over and over and over and over). And for some jobs which have branching combo chains -- SAM and DRG in particular, but I feel like there might also be issues with PLD, NIN, etc. -- it obviously doesn't work.

But on the other hand, there are some jobs where I'm down to only one or two free spaces on a three-hotbar layout. And if the options are a choice between:

1. We get maybe one new action per expansion, otherwise just an upgrade of an existing action or two via a trait. (Which seems to be the current solution, at least when jobs don't get an overhaul.)
2. We get actions pruned entirely to make room for new ones, allowing new variety and play, but also making the jobs feel even more terrible whenever you're level-synced down. (Which has been done in the past, as you yourself acknowledge in a later post.)
3. We get existing action chains condensed down to a PvP-style combo button, thus making room for more new actions in a given expansion but also keeping existing ones. (And not further neutering the jobs at low levels.)

...I think I might actually prefer option 3. (Failing that, I pray they stick with option 1 rather than option 2.)