It's a game in which you fight mobs. There is maybe a hand full of games in the world, in which you fight mobs that are not stat based. It's always about maximizing the performance of your character by collecting the best piece of gear possible.

Since this is an MMO, its even more important here, cause it's what makes the game last, you need something to work for, need something that makes you feel like you accomplished something or get rewarded for.

If XIVs battle system wouldn't rely on stats at all, it would fail in a blink of an eye. As far as I agree with it not being as stupid as WoW, where you pretty much start from scratch every 5-6 months new raid content comes out, which makes all your previous effort in vain, I'd be in favour of something like in XI, where you worked for a piece of gear and it was actually good and useful to have for years, not months!