Naoki Yoshida interview @Gamescom

[Vantol]

FFXIV has continued to expand on way more than just Ilvl gear and the next dungeon or raid.

Actually, no, the only relevant content after all those years is dungeons and raid, everything else is niche.

Seriously what MMO isn't constantly replacing gear with better gear?

FFXI. I didn't play many others MMO, but I'm sure there are a few to name.

Gear and even crafted items or 2.0 pvp gear or relics were hard to get at first, but made more accessable later.

And useless, so there is no point even in trying to get it.

Pvp, quality of life, gold saucer, mentors, holidays, animations and emotes, beast tribe revisions which leads me to mention the complete change to how materia is handled. Treasure maps and the Aquapolis, Orchestrian stuff and housing. There hasn't always been big fishing or notorious monsters or hunts.

PvP - dead.
QoL - yes.
Gold Saucer - dead.
Mentors - not content.
Holidays - brain-dead FATE grinding.
Animations and emotes - not content, but ok.
Beat tribes - brain-dead daily chore.
Materia - dead outside of raiding and crafting/gathering.
Treasure maps and Aquapolis - close to dead.
Orchestarion - one day feature, then dead.
Big Fishing - useless.
NM (Diadem you mean?) - dead.
Hunts - brain dead zerging, but usefull, I can give you that.

Reward structure and gear progression is bane of this game. I can't name a single game that would do it more horrible way.

And there are countless threads and posts about how to fix it. Not just ideas, but actual "How to" instructions, but alas.