Another use of macros is to set up conditional usage--Use ability A if it is available (not on cooldown, in range); otherwise use ability B. A specific example would be for a Jedi Knight to set up a single hotbar key to use Sundering Strike if it's available, otherwise use Strike. This means I only have to use one hotbar slot for the key I'm going to mash to build Focus. An in-game macro system would typically support this sort of programmable macro--don't know that you can do that with an external macro system.

An argument in favor of Concussive Force is that the knockback lets you use Stockstrike as an interrupt.

Well there's something you don't see every day: A healer complaining because their group both planned thoughtfully and executed the plan well. But fear not--if you're running PUGs your idea of excitement is bound to come, and probably sooner rather than later.

I really have to wonder at the sort of attitude that gets upset over this. (Let's assume for the sake of argument that your characterization of this class is correct.) What is the problem with the developers saying "There are some people who really enjoy classes that are complex and some people who prefer things a bit more simple. Let's design different classes so each player has a option that fits their preference"? Why do people who enjoy complexity, and therefore choose to go with a class that offers that complexity, then complain that a less complex class can hold its own just as well? Or why do people who are miserable with the choice they've made insist that everyone else should be just as miserable instead of just making a different choice? For crying out loud people--it's a game! Can't you have fun AND also let other people have fun at it even if they aren't a clone of you?

How about separating "Class X is OP in PvP" from "Class X is OP in PvE"? A vast majority of the whining about overpowered classes seems to translate into "Class X killed me in PvP therefore it must be overpowered". When it comes to any discussion of classes being overpowered in PvP, there's just too much chaff to make it worth trying to find the wheat. Having a separate place to discuss only PvE balance issues would at least at least allow that discussion to take place without having to cut through that massive amount of background noise.