This is, without a doubt, one of the best comments I've read on this forum. The absence of simple b+w masking (yes, I know clipping masks exist, but the workflow is damn atrocious) alone makes it such a pita to work with smart materials in coat, how can you aim at Substance Designer? The paint room has been neglected for the time I'm acquainted with coat and seemingly long before then even. How long has GPU engine for paint room been mentioned for already?
Guys, please, you have to deliver the fundamentals first (some of which users have been asking for a decade at this point), to compare coat to painter (not to say anything about designer) is somewhat laughable at the current state of events imo.