Regardless, I would really appreciate a transparent discussion about what they actually want of the healers, how that correlates to the experience of playing a healer in solo content, normal content, and hardcore content, and how they feel about the unrelenting criticism the healer role continues to receive from at least a modest subset of players as well as if they plan to ever do anything about it, and if not, why?

For example, if they really want Sage to be the healer designed for players with criticism like ours, what are their thoughts on Sage failing to satiate our community of players? At the very least, why not open up communication with the community on how to develop Sage as a healer for players like us? Since they don't seem capable of doing it on their own, collecting feedback specifically from players upset with the state of healers could help them redirect Sage to be that answer. Of the people who aren't happy with healer design, I know just making Sage the healer designed for what we're looking for is not the answer most want, including myself (though I will admittedly be content with that outcome), but it's something.