Eureka: Like it or hate it, life once again returns.

[Marluxia]

So you don't think Eureka, POTD or any of the new classes qualify as even minor additions to gameplay?

Your problem is you don't like what is being added, not that nothing is being added.

Palace of the Dead was released in Heavensward which I consider by-and-large to be a decent expansion. Other examples of good gameplay variation are Gold Saucer and its accoutrements, Lord of Verminion (despite how much flak it gets), the different PvP modes, the class changes made in Stormblood, and others.

Of course, I'm not arguing that Eureka isn't "new" by the literal definition of the word "new", I'm not an idiot.

That said, I think it's silly to think that Eureka is variably different from Hunts.

There's not much point to debating it in detail since I'm probably going to get picked on over the definition of "new" and "variation", so I'll just give examples.

1). Making the Magia board essential rather than just a tepid damage boost. You cannot damage something without the correct element, making it necessary to strategize and manage board rotations based on what kind of monsters you want to hunt. This would make putting 5 magia all in different elements a somewhat viable strategy if you're looking to hunt a variety of monsters.

2). Eureka is a dangerous place, so adventurers have to defend settlements. You could mix this with crafting/gathering classes to rebuild and reinforce settlements after they've been attacked by dangerous monsters, or building defenses like usable cannons or barricades against the next attack.

3). Exploration goals: the expedition will give you rewards for going into dangerous areas and planting beacons, necessitating that you stealth your way through areas. What this does is add an additional dimension to dodging monsters, and if you make the monsters in this area very high level (level 30, for example) it allows Level 20s to feel a sense of danger as well.

And yes, if you want to use a ridiculous reductionist fallacy, dungeons and raids are all "the exact same" thing with different window dressing: spamming a rotation in hallway. That is a pretty core gameplay mechanic of FFXIV. Again, I'm not arguing for changing the fundamental core of the game. You can keep a strong core while having reasonably different variations of it.