FFXIV pros: (or what's better than compared to WoW as the gold standard)

Character design/customization
Side content
Minigames
Farming content
NPCs/big ticket characters -might be a personal preference
housing -but WoW is getting it soon and it's gonna be better so...

FFXIV cons:

Gameplay
Inbuilt execution and interaction lag
Garbage PvE
Garbage PvP
(mostly due to the first 2 factors)
Spaghetti engine -can't do this while that, everything needs confirmation like it's a toddler playing

So? Just address the cons while building on the pros? A complete gameplay and class overhaul is inevitable if they want to save this game. FFXIV is the only game that makes me fully aware and conscious about the fact that I'm pressing the same damn button sequence over and over and over. Start with that first, then do real PvE mechanics.