Combo skills are wasting button space. 2 or 3 buttons could be used for all combos.

[Nver]

No combo skill is worth using on it's own as their base potency is less than the combo starter and provides no beneficial effects.
No need to waste 6+ hotbar slots for skills that all branch off one or two attacks that you will never use unless within a combo.
All combos can be performed with a 2 or 3 button setup. (like in pvp)
If for some reason want to restart a combo could press a third key or both buttons at once, or just wait till the combo buff fades on it's own. Could also just hold either button to restart the combo.

Example with paladin:

Has 3 differ combos all opened with Fast Blade:

Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone (or) Royal Authority
> Riot Blade > Goring Blade

Combo one (Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone)
Could be done via pressing buttons: 1, 1, 1

Combo two (Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Royal Authority)
Could be done via pressing buttons 1, 1, 2

Combo three (Fast blade > Riot Blade > Goring Blade)
Could be done via pressing buttons: 1, 2, 2


Combos in this game are mindless way to do damage rotations. While weaving in your Job's instant attacks. As the combo skills by themselves are useless and just waste button space for your more reactive or situational skills.

Or for a 3 button setup could just have a designated combo starter button that we'll say is button 1.
Then 2 more buttons for the actual combo.
Ex:
1, 2, 2
1, 2, 3
1, 3, 3
1, 3, 2

Or even a second combo starter button so that no matter what you would only ever need 2-4 buttons depending on what setup you use.
Verses the 8 buttons that Dragoon needs for it's two combos.

DCUO (DC Universe Online) could be used as an example.
You have your two button combos that if done right apply more damage and apply buffs, debuffs, dots, healing etc just like FF14. AND you have your 8 abilities or skills at the bottom bound to w/e.

We already have half a dozen or more cooldown skills, half a dozen or more situational or reactive skills. We don't need half a dozen skills that do NOTHING unless used in a combo. It's a ridiculous waste and I'm having a hard time thinking of any MMOs I'v played that has useless skills like this. Rather they have a good, better, best way to use them in their rotations. It's really just an oversimplified way to make people follow a rotation.
AND I'm ok with these useless skills but they should change the combat to a 2 or 3 button fighter mechanic for it or at least give us the option to change it ourselves.
SE could just add an option in settings to set the combo skils to behave like this for the people that would rather have 6 useless skills on their bar they won't ever use unless they hit all the other ones in succession prior to it.

Some one said but then it won't feel like we're doing enough.. Adding buttons for the sake of adding buttons is asinine. If it doesn't feel like you're doing enough it's SE's fault for trying to hide how simplistic/mundane their combo/rotation system is by making it waste more hotbar space.
And again: "SE could add the option to change it" So you can choose to make it "feel" like it's more complicated than it really is if that's really how you wanna play...

[xxxaziexxx]

Combining combo buttons like this has the totally neat side effect of probably helping a lot of people with limited mobility in their hands or some other disability where moving for a lot of different hotkeys is difficult.

On the other hand though, I feel like optimal hotbar layout is part of the fun and it makes me feel pretty good when I'm learning where best to put stuff to improve a rotation on a new class.

[idk]

Visit the wolves den and you'll see they actually do have this.... But for pvp only which surprises me

[Lopu]

I have a feeling they'll implement this somewhere down the line, maybe next expansion since we'll need more skills for a raised level cap

[Charlie]

It s the pvp hotkey system

[Nver]

Honstly I just hate hitting the shift button modifier. I gotta 15 button mouse, z,x,c,q,e,f. I feel like that should be enough for any mmo or game for that matter without having to hit a modifier key.

[xyz]

As mentioned PVP does it, but its a bit messy because the actions can combo off each other. Devs have said that they are considered they don't want button bloat beyond 3 bars [36 icons]. I imagine if they keep up the 100 or so abilities per expansion, then we will get 3 new abilities per job to 80. The combos will probably come into single buttons then. It's probably not worth the effort right now, since they reworked the entire ability system in 4.0 and probably decided then it wasn't required for that expansion.

[Nver]

I really think that a 2 or 3 button fighter type setup could work and be fun all the while threading your instant job skills between attacks..
IF;
1: They make buttons 1, 2, and/or 3 worth using on their own, or at least give them a situational effect or reason that would make it benificial to use on it's own.
2: Provide several possible combinations.
3: Don't ♥♥♥♥ with the mechanics to much. (it's really just a quality of life change I'm looking for. Not a revamp of the game)

Just smashing button 1 repeatedely for combo 1 and button 2 repeatedely for combo 2 would get boring really quick. I'd rather remember differ combinations like in DCUO to get the desired effects, buffs, debuffs, etc.