Snow, you can't just state something that isn't happening is happening and then call someone out for it.
I've stated what my opinions are on a subjective topic. The same subjective topic other people are stating their opinions on. "Is press-and-hold 'easily accessible'?" is a subjective question, not an objective one, as some people will find it easy and others not. You can't state YOUR position as fact, start with the assumption that YOUR opinion is the absolute right and I am always wrong, and argue with everyone who doesn't share your opinions.
I know other people who use controller and none of them even knew about press and hold until I told them. None of them use it now. I tried using it with PLD back in SB but found it so unintuitive and annoying I actually just went to three hotbars and copied the first half of my first bar into my third and just manually RBumper scrolled through all three. It was EASIER than the press and hold thing. Every time someone insists to me that press and hold is easy, I'm genuinely shocked how anyone could think it is, since having tried it in live combat multiple times, it got me and others killed more often than manually scrolling. I've gotten to abilities faster and more reliably by pulling up my actions and traits menu and using them faster than by using the press and hold. It's that bad.
So no, it's not great.
I also didn't say "so I'm gonna ignore them". I said this is how _I_ am marking the line on where _I_ think is too much in a thread _I_ started.
It's not "a complete false start of an argument". There's you, AGAIN, stating your opinion as fact to discredit an entire discussion because you don't want to have it/don't want it to be true/don't want to acknowledge people that DO have issues with the press-and-hold system.
Pretty much agree with you on everything but Clemency/Cover/Shield Bash (I actually like those a lot, though I agree they could use some adjustments).
I think FoF should just upgrade into Requiescat, and make Requiescat have range so it has the full functionality FoF does. I hadn't thought of Holy Circle being combined with Holy Spirit as a cleave target on an enemy, but that honestly makes a ton of sense. Goring should just be removed with its potency folded into Confetior or some of the sword attacks in the combo. Shelltron/Intervention could get the Heart of Corundum treatment. Just remove the CD, it's limited by Oath Gauge so you can't just sit there and machine gun it. You can only use up to two at a time, and it's not ridiculously overpowered in a game where Nascent can generate basically the same situation by effecting both a target and the WAR (the WAR doesn't get the mit but gets the healing, which is the lion's share of the functionality of the ability). This wouldn't really be OP, not to mention PLD already pays in lowest damage of the Tanks, so having higher defense/party utility is supposedly the exchange for that. Spirits Within/Expacion and Circle of Scorn are still kind of "why are these even here?" buttons. APM, I guess, but just give us more charges/faster recharge on Intervene (gap closer) so we can smack that more in burst.
That's six hotbar spots right there. I kind of agree with you that it's annoying to have so many buttons that are "just use once every 1/2 mins or so", but it's even worse when its abilities that you always use together anyway. Abilities that, if the macro system didn't suck, you could just all macro to a single button because they literally don't do anything else (the only reason this doesn't work is because macros not quing; otherwise the buttons bring that little to the table).
Shield Bash actually IS useful in solo content, Deep Dungeons, and Exploration Content. I think a better idea would be to give the button a context upgrade of some kind. For example, as I've pitched, if we DIDN'T remove Goring, have it be the Shield Bash button "context upgrades" to Goring Blade when you use Requiescat, like how RDM's Thunder/Aero/Jolt upgrade into Flare/Holy/Scorch/Resolution, or how Confetior changes to the three swords abilities one after another. Gets rid of Goring hogging a hotbar spot while keeping Shield Bash's general functionality (Goring can even have the Stun, doesn't hurt anything since bosses are immune to it anyways).
Cover is a really useful ability for saving runs or pushing prog, the issue is the gauge cost. There's no reason for it when it already has its CD. Just remove the gauge cost and Cover would be a useful ability again.
Clemency is honestly pretty good where it's at, and the one Tank healing button I think IS in a good place. Yes, it's powerful, but a total DPS loss to use and will make you go MP negative really fast. It's useful for pushing prog or trying to salvage fights, but isn't outright replacing Healers (PLD doing its damage rotation and letting the Healer heal is always going to be a party DPS gain in stuff like 4 mans over the PLD trying to be the healer and letting the WHM Glare more). That trade-off is what makes it good and makes things like Nascent or Shake bad.
I didn't ask for overhauls of most or all Jobs.
I noted that about a third are currently below the 32 threshold as it is.
The OP was more countering the argument that Healers have the least buttons (WHM specifically), since that isn't at all true. You ask me why 32 but...then say you know the answer, so...? I don't need to answer it, then?
For my part - as I say all the time with "4 Healer Model" and "new SMN is fine but old SMN should exist as a separate Job" and so on - I like there being different levels of things across the Jobs so we have the highest odds of someone finding at least one they like. Ideally at least one in each role, but just at least one.
Right now, we have a decent spread. 27 for SMN on the low end and 37 for PLD on the high end. I do feel like some of the Jobs (PLD is a particular sore spot) have a lot of buttons that probably should be pruned because they don't bring anything to the Job. On the other hand, as I've also said before, we have Jobs like SCH where most of their buttons actually have a use justifying them existing as a distinct ability and hotbar slot.
I think it's good we have some with a lot, but also good we have some with a little. I do feel some of the ones with a lot should be looked at to see if all those buttons ARE bringing something to the table or not, though. But if they are, I'm not advocating they be changed "just because", or changed at all.