Quote Originally Posted by Renathras View Post
We don't "need to accept that DPS is a major part(y) of healer gameplay". Again, at the risk of before, that's what you need me to accept for your position to be the default and have precedence. (In other words, for your position to win "by default".) But there's no actual reason or necessity to do so. Current encounter design and healer gameplay shows we do not, in fact, need to accept that.
Accepting that DPS is a part of healing in this game doesn't necessarily translate to DPS rotations like what gets discussed. It just means accepting that DPS will always be the metric that is used to determine what actions a healer takes. What action either directly or indirectly yields the most damage? Even when you heal, you're making this decision either intentionally or unintentionally. Reviving a DPS? That's more damage than hitting Glare. Esuna-ing the Slow off the BLM? That damage the BLM is losing is probably worth more than your Glares. Using Medica II? Ideally, it's because the regen gained will result in less Glares lost than perhaps Cure III. This is even true of old Final Fantasies. There's not a prize for topping off the party. You're trying to not lose people so you can continue the battle and win the fight. Many players actually try not to heal in battle and instead heal after battle in older turn based RPGs, because all healing in battle does is slow everything down unless it's preventing KOs. An example of where this is accepted was in the buff to Afflatus Misery. It means accepting that players would not use lily healing for any other reason than being forced to as the reward of misery was not a reward, but a consolation prize.