In my opinion the only way to save the game is to completely redesign it. BUT you don't need to look so far for ideas how to rebuilt it. All you would need to do is ditch all the oh so new and great ideas and completely copy FFXI's current gameplay. ADMIT IT YOU WANT IT! Since most of the casual gamers who were the target group for this "new" and "innovative" type of gameplay (mess) we are dealing with now already left for most parts anyway. (and most likely will never return) So just give the FF fans what they want with better graphics. Just take the whole battlesystem etc. and put it into a new world.
You wouldn't even have to make up something new there. Just make the game part of the Ivalice Alliance or something alike and you would have a complete, highly expandable world setting with a working system which everyone who is willing to pay would love. (Just think of the racial options and so on but I am drifting off imagining a really wonderful game.. AND SO DO YOU ADMIT IT.)
Since FFXI always was a steady goldmine why not get everyone back and keep the money flowing instead of trying to appeal to and turn over all the WoW-loving morons.
Too bad I'm asking for the impossible: shut down the servers, completely ditch the game (heck I would even say its okay and donate you the money I paid for my copy if SE could pull off a game like I described) and make the game every ff fan would love.(which would take years again..)
Ah well.. the things that could have been..
I am prepared for the incoming s-storm of "troll go back blah blah" from ppl who want to justify the money or time they spent on obvious ... well whatever you wanna call 14. But I don't really care anyway, just wanted to share my idea, maybe there are other ppl who would like to play a part of the series they used to be fans of. To everyone else still defending the current mess: enjoy your leve quests on copypasted terrain and grind without content