Originally Posted by
AnimaAnimus
That's a shame if you like story because FFXI story telling is leaps and bounds better than xiv's. It's not as fast paced so you take the story in sips instead of massive gulps, but they are not afraid to go dark with the occasional moment of levity and do not lean on the power of friendship trope as hard as xiv does, making for some more interesting ways for things to be resolved. All the expansions are their own thing too so you don't have to play them in any order and you can do them at your own pace. They even give you the option to not trigger the first cutscene that starts an expansion's story until you want to. Even side stories and job stories can get spooky or make you say, wow wth just happened. Lookin at you blue mage.
If you are a story/lore nerd, FFXI > FFXIV by a long shot.