That's not how it has to be, though. Could always argue against qol with "that's just how things are"
It doesn't have to be, but it is now and for the foreseeable future. Hence, if you follow the discussion, you'll notice I began a sentence with: "In the meantime, ..."
EDIT: And I have given my reason for not wanting it to change (with exceptions, as I've noted). This is not a simple QoL that benefits everyone without any negative effect.
Except you're not truly RPing when you expect one character to automatically get what another character has earned. They're separate entities, especially when you're actively roleplaying.
The character did not earn it, therefore the character should not have it.
Alts are a time filler. They increase content longevity through the need to repeat the content on any character that you wish to have the associated reward. Make those rewards account wide and there's no reason to repeat that content. More players start complaining about a lack of things to do.
Look at what happened to WoW. There have been plenty of things going wrong with that game but player dissatisfaction surged right after Blizzard started making things account wide. People ran out of things to do because they already had what their wanted through the effort of just one character, leaving little for their alts to do. If they had to repeat that content on their alts, they would have had more to do and wouldn't have been as dissatisfied.
I don't have a problem with SE making Mogstation items account wide when those items were direct to Mogstation in the first place. Nothing earned through game play, even if it's a one time event, should ever be account wide. If the character is going to have the item, the character needs to earn it.
I didn't realize there were such strict requirements as to what qualifies as proper RP and what doesn't.
I'll continue to brush them off in the same manner that my having only one character is just as insignificant to them. I honestly don't get why players feel the need to do this, especially with their added gripes that comes along with its restrictions (you know what you signed up for, and if you don't it's on you). However, it is also not my place to tell them how they should be spending their time in the game. Besides, the way I play the game is probably enjoyed the same way by probably <2% of the playerbase.
If you feel one character cannot encompass what you desire to do in the game, that is fine. I would just advise to choose your frustrations carefully when it comes to the restrictions. It's not a good idea to go into a donut shop that has a sign that says, "We are out of powdered donuts.", and then start griping about not being able to get a powdered donut.
If you want to RP by yourself, there really isn't any requirement. But if you want to RP with a community, as the case with any group activity, there can be some (strict) requirements that you may have to follow if you want to fit in with a group.
In some communities, just having the "wrong" name could be considered a legitimate offense.
When i was playing Wow, one of the thing that did disturb me was having way too much things who were account-wide. I start a new character, he is level 1, nobody knows him, he is still a wimp, a rookie, a total beginner without any experience who has yet to prove that he is worth something as an adventurer... and he does get all these things like he was some sort of world renowned hero. At the time i whished that i could turn all that off, as it was getting on my way of feeling like starting from scratch again. And it has been among the reasons i didn't stay on this game.
That being said, if rare things were to be made account wide on FF14 too, wouldn't that horribly mess with stats like LuckyBancho ? Oh look, this Super Hyper Mega Perfect Legend title did suddenly become way more common... Did the playerbase become way more skilled at the game ? Oh wait, it is only because the title has been given to every alts on the accounts XD