The problem with "Instant OFF GCD" abilities makes combat feel less rewarding.

[Calypsx]

Your sentence is a spot-on explanation of how fights are going to work in FF because of this broken system. You're not fighting, you're playing Super Mario.

No i'm pretty sure i'm fighting. I like animation locks and decision making. Knowing what attacks leave me open reminds me of playing a fighting games, I can be punished for hasty offensive play, and can be rewarded for making correct defensive decisions and holding off my attacks. I just feel paladins need to have their stun skill reworked so they aren't forced into the stun bot roll.

To fix the problem you're stating, all they have to do is make the fights more dangerous and make the enemies patterns less predictable. That way it's not like "playing the first level by heart again". The GCD and animation lock mechanics don't even have to be touched for that, just the enemy ai and skills like the paladins stun.

I don't want to see the combat mechanics changed, I actually enjoy them a lot, I can flow freely from attacks and off gcd buffs in between and it's a lot of fun nailing them correctly. I just want to see the fights and encounters changed. It really comes down to preferences, I don't know what else to tell you. I like it, some don't. The only thing I want is for the encounters to be more randomized and different for each fight.

Or they could just change all the off GCD abilities to say "Can only be activated in the middle of the GCD" so it doesn't confuse players. I have yet to feel the need to mash the key to get it to work, but it can be deceptive because it shows it's available earlier on. Maybe have the skills grayed out until the GCD reaches the half way point?