Anyone remember waayyy back in the days of Doom 2?

SE does. Boss Key GO!

I remember loading up FFXIV open beta the week before game release, and hoping most of my favorite FFXI features were implemented. I was NOT disappointed.

Mandatory Full-Screen - Check
Video Settings as a separate executable from game client that requires /logout - Check
Game crashes from: Alt+Tab, resolution change, UAC, change in focus - Check
No built-in Windowed mode - Check
Awkward client that doesn't have any built-in configuration settings - Check
Poor usage of hardware resources - Check
Convoluted account signup/character creation process - Check
(As a beta user, I was unfortunately deprived of the intense pleasure of their customer friendly, convenient and easy to manage payment system)

I was banking on those key features, and so was SE, which is why they decided to release the game with them intact.

I don't understand why there's so much criticism aimed at SE. They obviously decided the things that were unpopular in FFXI should remain, and that everything remotely like-able from FFXI should be pruned, to create an entirely new gaming experience. They even added a "three second lag to accomplish any UI/equipment/item/battle related task" feature, to give players considerable time to plan their inventory/battle command procedures.

Kudos SE. Haters gonna hate; just keep on keepin' on and doing what you do best: DirectX programming.