Late to the thread but as someone who started with FFXIV and later began playing FFXI, FFXI does *not* need a remake / remaster / singleplayer version / whatever. FFXI is still there. It's not going anywhere, and personally I'd recommend starting now if ever. The game is fun. Really fun. It can be challenging, it can be confusing, but ultimately if the experience you want is everything served to you on a silver platter I'm not entirely sure why you're playing video games.

As has been repeatedly said, modern FFXI is a far cry from endless dune farming, and from the people I know who've gotten into the game late like me most of them never made it past the nation missions and into the expansions proper. Which is a shame, because all the expansions and scenarios post Zilart are really enjoyable, with stories that are mostly engaging and with characters that I like. In its current state it has a really tangible sense of character progression compared to FFXIV.

Don't get me wrong, I love FFXIV, but it's so... bland. Every experience is so fine-tuned that it's impossible to fail at something, or get lost, or solve any problem in a way other than how the game wants you. FFXI not holding your hand allows for an incredible amount of player choice and decision making in basically every aspect of the game, including buildcrafting, gearing, even just playing your job. There is no objectively correct way to do anything, and there is rarely even a preferred way the community does things.

You can't even save the goblins in Brayflox's Longstop without getting reported or yelled at. Two people can do the same thing in FFXI and end up having wildly different experiences.