This is for every system, no matter if they had kept basic attacks manual, or as they are going to, switch them to auto attack.
The combat system is going to change. It will not be the same system that is in the game currently. Attacks will not work exactly the same way, though they may have similiar names and ideas in use (Multishot - you shoot many arrows, can that not be a one action that costs X amount of TP/Energy/Tacos to use?). Getting caught up in worrying how X-Attack will be affected is pointless when the very system itself is being changed.
This is for everything currently in the game. Did you see the results of that first Players Poll, where 85.2% of folks voted Yes to "changes to FINAL FANTASY XIV that would drastically alter the rules already set in Eorzea" as well as a 72.4% vote whos biggest expectation for the new team was "An overhaul to fundamental gameplay aspects".
A link to it for anybody who may have missed it back in January:
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...ed538a52d0fa40
The game we are currently playing is - whether you enjoy it or not, and I do personally enjoy it - a placeholder that is being changed as we play. I don't expect to recognise this game come the end of the year, minus the graphics and possibly some general rules. Will I still play? Depends if I like the game or not! Once you are able to accept that, then a lot of the topics that people go crazy about die a death, as you realise they are all pieces of a bigger puzzle, and until we see the end result, we can't really say much. This auto-attack debate was one of them, it is clear from the announcement that it was auto-attack no matter what was said, and has probably having been worked on for a while now - it is one of their first big tasks, as without a good combat system, killing stuff isn't fun, and MMOs have a huge death toll.
Honestly, I think they would have taken the servers down (possibly should have) but they have kept them up as effectively a big testing ground and for those that have friends and fun, even if not as much as they might do in the future. They are working towards "Final Fantasy XIV - Take 2" and we need to give them the time to do that. When you see them release a solid date for the Playstation 3, you can take that as the release date for 'real'.
I don't mean to sound like I'm Lording it over folk, but the pettiness (not you that I quoted, but forums in general) over what are minor subjects when the entire game is basically going to be overhauled is somewhat frustrating. This includes troll topics like BelgianRofls "6 month review" (I mainly dislike that topic for the reasons I state above...you know damn well the game is changing, but it takes time) as well as "Oh no, we are bleeding players". Damn right we are, but honestly I doubt Square Enix truly care - why would they try and bring folk back to the game when they are changing it and acknowledged that it isn't to their standard.
While gamers tend to be somewhat stupid ("Oh no, that MMO sucked at launch, now I wont ever play it...what? MMOs change drastically, even the 'best'") they will no doubt have a campaign to bring players back - when they think it is ready - who still wont have paid more than the box price, so that they can finally, truly, get their 30 days free with the box.
I speak as a long time gamer, played many MMOs and a couple of Final Fantasy games (Only completed Final Fantasy XIII though!), and have absolutely no care for the fact that it is Square Enix involved - minus that they have been able to somewhat absorb the issue and try to address it.
Time is what we have to give them, and it may feel like you've already done so, but again as I said, until they announce the Playstation 3 release and a "Welcome back (or perhaps, please come back) campaign" then you can easily take a break from the game without feeling like you are missing anything - even I, a massive fan of the game am considering doing so rather than bump into things haphazardly as they are put in, and join in when things truly get going.