i played ffxi since COP release and played wow since vanilla (pre expansions). i can tell u now that wow is on a decline. cataclysm ruined wow for ALOT of people. they killed endgame, they killed pugging instances thru the dungeon finder. not to mention dailies, crafting, pvp, and a simplified talent tree. if you go on wow forums its post after post of disappointments. i quit ffxi a little after they released af3 from abyssea(didnt like those quests to get seals) and quit wow about 2 months after cata release.
anyways i think FFXIV has a ton of potential once they release a crap ton of content. i mean they should bring in a party xp format like in FFXI. idk about you but i hate this leves system with a 8 quests every 2 days limit. people have to make silly ways to get more xp by manipulating the leves system. since the lvl cap is only 50, grinding 200-300xp mobs a kill wouldnt be so bad.
the xp in abyssea was awesome, as a blm i had to aga some worms and the melee would do there thing on other worms. i got 5 lvls in about 7 hours of play. thats what made it so fun, u were accomplishing levels in a short amount of time.
now idk if its me but mmo's are starting to suck...mmos are coming out with the wow format, such as WAR, Rift, DC, Tera and even tho they have content at release its still the same ol thing. ffxiv tried to make it different but right now its a grind fest.
Square Enix, its not about trying to put wow and ffxi together into a game its about being original and making a game thats fun for all types of players. Just put in that work and keep making the game free. LOL.