Why can't we have jobs with this level of depth and customization in FFXIV?

[Gilthas]

You do realize majority of ARR's systems originated in 1.0-1.22..right? The only "difference" is how it's impelemented in certain areas, otherwise no, it's not totally different - if you touched any of the jobs that isn't ACN/SMN/SCH, you're playing something that was created and existed up to 4 years ago. Even ACN was already in the game but not usable for players.

Them streamlining certain content doesn't mean it's "compeletly different", a lot of the lore is still very much the same, just reformatted to fit the "5 years later".

Considering how many people were complaining about 2.0's battle system being a downgrade from 1.21's, I'd say that the battle system is a lot different. The only people that insist that the game is 5 years old are the ones complaining all the time because they want to make unfair comparisons to 5 year old games.

Because I have the time:

Just saying: rotation + amount of buttons available =/= complexity. FFXI had multiple jobs that weren't just sit and wait for TP and had reactionary gameplay rather than static. It offers the same complexity as ARR, but in different ways.

FFXIV also has reactionary gameplay, you just choose to ignore it to support your argument. All physical DPS classes have an interrupt. Some actually have multiple.

Thief: Sneak Attack Trick Attack. Position mattered in order to help the tank hold hate.

Both melee DPS in FFXIV have way more positional requirements than Thief (or any dps in FFXI really). While SATA does bring hate management to the table, we're talking about two abilities that are on a 1 minute timer here. This suddenly makes Thief more complex than Monk and Dragoon in FFXIV? The only way Thief had an interrupt was by equipping a subpar weapon and having TP to use the appropriate weapon skill. The only status effects they could inflict (pre-75-cap removal) came from crossbow bolts. Dragoons in FFXIV come equipped with two Stuns, Monks with 1 Stun (and an unreliable Silence I guess), both come equipped with DoT attacks, AoE attacks and inate status effects to apply to the mob. And FFXIV is still at a level 50 cap.

Ranger: Range you shoot your bow/gun/crossbow from actually effected how much damage you do. Knowing when a good time to use barrage and other skills was, etc.

FFXI was more complex because you had to decide when to use your skills? You think the same doesn't apply to FFXIV? You're right that range affected the damage that you did, but does that make it a more complex job than FFXIV's Bard that has DoTs to keep on the mob, a silence interrupt, a self buff to keep up in it's rotation (Ranger in FFXI didn't even have a rotation, just spamming the ranged attack key until 100 TP) and AoE attacks? And I'm ignoring the songs to keep the comparison strictly to DPS.

Ninja: Proper use and timing of Utsusemi Ichi and Ni so you don't die (because Ninja tank) and use of other Ninjutsu for specific types of debuffs.

Ninja was probably slightly more complex than Paladins in FFXIV because of the timing of Utsusemi, but Warriors in FFXIV have a lot more to do than Ninja ever did in FFXI. But then you also consider how multiple mob tanking in FFXI really wasn't a thing (we slept everything at least at 75 level cap) and how the function of Provoke in FFXIV allows for tank swapping mechanics too, so there's really no question about the game where tanking is more complex.

Scholar: Flipping between black and white magic stances when necessary (yes, in party situations as well).

What exactly do you think White Mages and Scholars currently do in FFXIV?

I daresay there could be more complexity in XI than there is in ARR.

The only real added complexity that FFXI had was that it had dedicated support jobs in Bard and Corsair, meaning that the game had 4 roles instead of the 3 used in ARR. Though, it's not like Bards and Corsairs had complex duties other than judging distances so their buffs hit the right players (not really that hard in a game where AoE dodge mechanics were pretty much inexistant so party members could easily maintain positions).

Didn't address Dancer or Blue Mage since FFXIV doesn't really have an equivalent to these and they were added to FFXI years after it's release. FFXIV obviously will have more jobs in the future, we just have to wait and see how they'll be implemented.