How good is the game engine of FFXIV?

[Shurrikhan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVLGwudbZTk

Sorry for my ignorance but is WoW running on the same engine it was running on back when it was released?
How do they create these in-game cinematic trailers in the recent expansions? The movements are so versatile, the trailers and even in the game the environment is as smooth, vibrant and clear that it's hard to convince that it's the same game released back in 2004
So I wonder why it matters that FFXIV is running on an engine 2 generations behind while WoW is running on an engine from back in 2004 yet it still thrives and improves to such graphics

Depending on how exactly you define the engine, parts of it have been traded out over time. Data packaging, database structure, command structure, server-check structures, protocols, and such have all seen substantial revisions, while certain shader and tesselation protocols have been totally replaced and/or added. But that's happened over time, bit by bit, rarely as a selling point or even made known to the players while working towards a better polish or technical benchmark. From what I hear, WoW's engine has badly limited it as well. It just rarely tends to be the go-to excuse.

[TheVigilant]

Depending on how exactly you define the engine, parts of it have been traded out over time. Data packaging, database structure, command structure, server-check structures, protocols, and such have all seen substantial revisions, while certain shader and tesselation protocols have been totally replaced and/or added. But that's happened over time, bit by bit, rarely as a selling point or even made known to the players while working towards a better polish or technical benchmark. From what I hear, WoW's engine has badly limited it as well. It just rarely tends to be the go-to excuse.

Do you think the same thing is possible with FFXIV's engine? I know that it was done bit by bit as I witnessed it myself, I'm playing WoW for 14 years and saw the changes happen over time but I'm hoping the same is possible with FFXIV and not that its less possible cause of its engine