Agreed. 1v1's are such great potential yet utterly wasted. Sometimes I wish ff14 didn't try so hard to leave their mark and be "different" when they create content other MMO's have because it almost always ends up worse. BLU, Verminion, Fellowships and so on are good examples. Great potential spoiled by gimmicks, restrictions and gates. Personally I simply decline duel because I haven't read up so I feel it's unfair to deny someone a spot who really wants it. The system discourages me from even stepping foot in there.

WoW has it's flaws but despite balance issues, they did solo content well. The Mage Tower, Endless Proving Grounds and the Brawlers Guild were fun, really satisfying to beat and far easier to access. I don't get what happened to ff14's "if it isn't fun you're doing it wrong". It doesn't feel like fun is the primary focus for 1v1's, it feels like artificially stretching out and gating the content is.