he seems to fail to comprehend that what he thinks are AOE spells aren't.
They're multi-target spells.
If you cast a bomb at a dense pack, it will hit only a maximum number of targets in the pack, depending on the stanza used, it won't hit the entire pack (unless of course the number of potential targets is smaller or equal to the maximum your stanza allows).
As to tanking, a true AOE with ability to damage friendlies would make tanking harder, especially it'd make the healers' job a lot harder.
It'd also create a massive capability for griefing, in that a caster could simply target something near a friendly (or so they think) group and kill them all by casting a few bombs.
They're multi-target spells.
If you cast a bomb at a dense pack, it will hit only a maximum number of targets in the pack, depending on the stanza used, it won't hit the entire pack (unless of course the number of potential targets is smaller or equal to the maximum your stanza allows).
As to tanking, a true AOE with ability to damage friendlies would make tanking harder, especially it'd make the healers' job a lot harder.
It'd also create a massive capability for griefing, in that a caster could simply target something near a friendly (or so they think) group and kill them all by casting a few bombs.