Originally Posted by
Wrecktangle
As a Ret Main (snipping an older post I made circa BfA, but still relevant):
While WoW may have much fewer buttons, the gameplay is deep (at least on my Ret Paladin, I know I know). I have a lot of optimizations to make:
1) Don't cap Holy Power
2) Spend procs so you don't waste them being overwritten by new procs
3) Have to spend Holy Power ever 4s to maintain 15% damage buff
4) Don't let CS sit on 2 charges
5) Use abilities in an appropriate priority so you don't get stuck with nothing to do/deal less damage (not sure how many classes have this issue, but it's a Ret one since it's a priority based cooldown class with no filler attack)
6) Priority changes during DPS cooldown with addition of an extra attack
That's just the baseline stuff. This changes depending on which talents you select, which azerite traits, trinkets, and Necklace powers you use. For instance, due to my traits, during my DPS cooldown, I have to prioritize spending Holy Power over a more fluid rotation because I have an extra generator and button forcing more clashes. Not only that, but the increased crit chance I get from it, props up my other azerite trait that deals DoT on a specific ability crit, but that ability can proc back to back, but I have to delay it so if it crits it doesn't overwrite my Dot (all while trying to not overcap resources/let abilities sit idle).
This DOESN'T even take into account my spec's utility. Having to watch 19 other people's raid frames for a split second BoP or Lay on Hands? Using Freedom on not only myself but others to take advantage of the mobility. Using free GCDs to cleanse poisons/diseases in dungeons on high keys (or old WoG backup healing?). Is this challenging? No. Is it complex? No not really. Is it deep and synergistic? Yes.
None of this exists in FF14 due to its rigid rotations and play patterns, especially in the melee space. Sure you can ignore ALL of these optimizations and just mash the glowing buttons as they come off CD, but that's the floor of the class, not the ceiling.
I think there's a lot of room to optimize and prune some of the existing classes and free up some hotbar space without it being too egregious. If anything I'd argue WoW pruned too much, and FF14 isn't pruning enough.