um.......
ffxi had instance dungeons. only sea and sky wasn't instanced to what know.
Also the party buff was also similar to buffs you can get in ffxi. Including the def buff the signet gave etc.
Also... ffxi isn't doing so well and takama was the first to say this game was going to have less time consuming content and be more casual friendly in ffxi. Its all over youtube with dev interviews. Pre launch.