Levelling up and completing content in FFXI was a whole different ball game. The grind was real to hit your level caps, and the level-capped fights were often brutal. You needed a solid team to fight through them and couldn't power your way through since you NEEDED gear and players of the right level.
FFXIV doesn't have any of those issues. The story fights are reasonable, the level grind can be done in a few days to a week, and people can equip insanely overpowered gear to storm the later dungeons without breaking a sweat. This is really only an issue for people who are impatient.
