They play exactly like spells, what are you talking about?
Mantles have a cast time - Stances are instant
Mantles cast can be interrupted - Stances can't
Mantles main buffs (20% damage or heal increase, or 10% buffs plus mana regen) lasts one hour then you have to recast them - Stances are endless.
Mantles need to be memorized - Stances are learned once and always there
Then let's look at Seasons by themselves vs Stance without even considering the Mantles skill line.
The buffs given by Seasons are way, way bigger than those given by stances. 10% buff to ALL heals/damage plus mana regen? 20% buff to ALL damage/heals?
Now look at Spellblade's infusion stances: they're minor buffs, one skill here, one stat there. They're not "your class is better at everything it does while this is active" like Seasons are
The only reason we even have this discussion is because Druid is the only class that has the luxury of having 4 "free" casts because technically they can swap seasons by using spells and avoid even using Mantles to begin with, otherwise we would consider them buff spells like the ones that every other class has.
The only way to change Mantles to stances would be to maybe, MAYBE, remove the % buffs and the mana regen entirely, remove the 20 minutes CD and only have them as enablers for specific spells, or to change how spell works depending on which stance you're in (off the top of my head, a HOT in Summer becomes a DOT in Winter).
You don't slot mantles because you think they're not worth a slot (fair), but others do use them, please don't assume for them.
Also, if you think that the mantle spells are not worth it, argue for a tweak to the skills, the numbers, the cd, but don't ask to completely revolutionize the class because you don't like 1 line of spells.
I mean, it's not that you can't, you can ask for anything, but I doubt that you'll get it. It's a major balance rework less than 2 months from EA when they're desperatedly trying to finish the other Deep Dives already.
I do agree that the Season system is not as smooth as it could be though. It doesn't feel like a cycle.
I would've made it a progressive system tied to the skills.
Cast damage spell, increase damage buff by 2% up to 20%, decrease healing by 2% down to -20% and vice versa (cast heal, increase healing blabla) then add a "reset" skill that puts you back in the middle, maybe even give you a small mana regen.
All in all, 20% all out buff on anything sounds like too much to me to be manageable balance-wise.
