I think one of the key points the interview made was Western developers make good GAMEPLAY, not necessarily great artistry or presentations....

I think WoW, GuildWars, Anarchy Online D&D online ALLODDS etc all have much better gameplay than ffxiv (all not from Japan), but none of them have that special pazaz of presentation like Square enix can offer. Like their Chrono Trigger / FinalFantasy etc games.

But they seriously have to stop using this as a crutch....

Well you just have to suffer through shitty gameplay to get a that awesome feeling setting/style/presentation. I just don't agree. I think we should get the great gameplay of Mass Effect, Skyrim, and it's ilk WITH the great settings like FinalFantasy, and it's siblings.