I wake up and click on FFXIV logo...

[Velox]

All I know is, is that I'm currently capped on all my weekly "gates," but I can still log on and find something fun to do.

That's the difference between looking at it as a gated game, and looking it at it as an MMORPG. Hell, last Tuesday I didn't get shit done even though things reset. I spent 99% of my night goofing off with friends. I found something fun to do that wasn't at all related to reaching gated milestones. I wasn't even mad when I didn't cap all my stuff last week because I was having too much fun and forgot to.

For you, the only recommendation I can make is to expand your horizons beyond the limitations of the game.

Spend time with friends.
Throw a giant Halloween party for the whole server.
Organize a scavenger hunt.
Attempt to beat a dungeon/fight naked.
Mentor some newbies who never played an MMO before.
Organize an S-rank summoning expedition.
Etc.

[Lambdafish]

For you, the only recommendation I can make is to expand your horizons beyond the limitations of the game.

Spend time with friends.
Throw a giant Halloween party for the whole server.
Organize a scavenger hunt.
Attempt to beat a dungeon/fight naked.
Mentor some newbies who never played an MMO before.
Organize an S-rank summoning expedition.
Etc.

The problem with this is that apart from the last one (which SE doesn't want you to do because there is 0 incentive). These are you making your own fun and really has nothing to do with the game itself. Just because you can goof off, doesn't mean the game is giving you anything to do, its just you interacting with other people, which certainly softens the wounds, but doesn't really help. I'm glad you are having fun, but it doesn't fix the core issues.

Incentive and reward are the key to keeping people engaged, not content (look at any clicker style game, which is grind in its purest and simplest form), and recently I have felt like the game hasn't been balanced to meet the demand.