I think I want subjobs more than I want job balance.

[MariaArvana]

In that case, why are we trying to change XIV into xi-2?

If the games are still running in parallel, wouldn't that be rather silly?

You'd drive off the people who like XIV, and keep only those die hard Xi fans who still play Xi.

This. FFXIV is FFXIV. Not everyone is going to like it. Unironically, go play FFXI if you enjoy FFXI more. FFXIV will never be FFXI, they're not going to do some radical gameplay shift this late into the game's cycle or implement features that up-end closing in on a decade's worth of battle design.

Also yes, while FFXI is still making money for Square, I would haphazard a guess that it's a mere tiny % of the amount FFXIV makes for them; for good reason. Even the greater video game industry as a whole has shown immense shift away from slow gameplay systems and more towards action based combat. Not even just in game design, but in which games are actually successful; no doubt when FF17 or whichever is the next FF MMO arrives, it will emulate the titanic success that was FFXIV, and continue to stay as far as away from FFXI as possible.

FFXI had its time; and that time was over a decade & a half ago.