Third party software

[ForteNightshade]

Here is an easy pill to swallow - "Indeed, we’ve only released duties that we have proven can be beaten with the game’s standard features." - Yoshi P.

Except this statement simply isn't true because a truly vanilla experience means not using ACT whatsoever. This, in turn, means you can't maximize your DPS for something like Dragonsong where the enrage is so tight a single DPS death can be the difference between getting passed Estinien or wiping to Revenge of the Horde. And this is from high level players pumping out as much damage as possible. Which they only know how to do because of the aforementioned third party program and a website to parse that data.

Okay, here is another easy pill to swallow: "We believe that people use the aforementioned tools to expand the HUD and display more information because they feel that existing functions are insufficient for tackling high-end duties. In recognition of this, we intend to review the most prominent tools, and in order to discourage their use, endeavor to enhance the functionality of the HUD. Though it will take some time, we're determined to make it happen─not least for the benefit of those who play on consoles." - Yoshi P.

Living Dead: Six years
Blood Weapon: Four years
Afflatus Lilies: Two years in Stormblood, and another five months in Endwalker after they screwed them up, again.
Monk changes: Six years, followed by an additional year of completely overhauling the job
Machinst: Despite three separate buffs in Endwalker alone, it's still the weakest DPS in the entire game. And it's been among the worst since late Stormblood
Healers: Three years now and counting since the entire role was lobotomized. Or to borrow your dismissive responses: "Just do Ultimate " - Yoshi P

Forgive me if I'm not holding my breath on how long it'll take for them to actually implement any of these plugins. If they even do so properly. Keep in mind, we're still limited to five waymarker presets when a plugin can offer hundreds.