About the emotional attachment, yes I agree. But in single player FF games, you control and bond with your NPC teammates along the story. They're basically most of the time with you and story elements are strongly tied to your companions as well. There is no such thing in FF XIV because your teammates are simply other players. There is no NPC engaged with you beside during the limited cutscenes time, so there is no practical form of attachment to them.

SWTOR, their system of companion works really well and you can still be in groups and team and it works excellently., thats just one example of having a sidekick.
True... I am most a solo player because i have had a LOT of guilds through my many years of MMOing and I got jaded, so many good friends gone from gaming etc
so I rather not trust or build such bonds again because it does hurt when a long time friend quits playing and you split.