biggest significant differences are that world of warcraft will retcon and abandon 99% of what happens from expansion to expansion so they can rehash the same 3 narrative arcs they've used since like 1993, and there is always a chase item to keep people on the RNG loot treadmill towards the next arbitrary number increase.

FFXIV has more consideration in general for keeping its world and setting consistent with itself and more clear of a notion that games should just be fun to play in the first place without a carrot on a stick to chase forever.