Because my point never was about saying whether exceed is good or bad.
No, I am putting in perspective how much damage exceed provides.
Good luck finding dual assault/defenders in wind.
Funnily enough, when you have Aether wind needs less exceeds than other elements (less damage cap raise needed and 10 stacks + PF hits burst damage cap).
But in longer term many people will hit first burst cap against debuffed enemies (and even rags can be debuffed with enough people), so exceed will see some use. Aside from that, bonus damage to bursts is not bad. Does that mean, that taking it instead of Assault is good ? No, but none skills aside from Pride or Vigor are worthy of taking instead of Assault. Choice is more between Rush, Barrage, Exceed or Stinger. Does Exceed looks bad comparing it to them ? I don't think so. The truth is as you say though, most won't be having that much of a problem with choosing, because there'll be nothing to choose from anyway.