I certainly fall into the camp of not really needing a white mage character in the party unless I absolutely need to. I also feel a pure healer with no combat options is just not ideal. I'm having flashbacks to X-2 and FFTA where WHM was made into a pure healing class and I immediately dropped them when something more optimal comes along. I honestly don't use WHM types much anymore for challenge.

With all that said, I will note that I find it increasingly frustrating that modern RPG designs (mainly Japanese) is hyper fixated on damage and speed mechanics. I would love to play more games that give strong viability to turtling tactics. It might not be as sexy as killing a boss for over a million damage withing 0.2 seconds but it is annoying that a whole strategic element is never utilized. The whole reason I love SMTIII and P3 is because they had sound defensive strategies you could utilize to bulldoze your way through the games if you wanted.