What have I missed?

[Nadrojj]

2.1 one didn't add too much, a bit more storyline, some extreme primals, two rehashed hard mode dungeons, ultima and moogle fights. That's about it. Also crystal tower.

[Moontide]

- Level-, class-, job- and gear progression is still completely linear. Treadmill is still very much there.
- Crafting is still obsolete.
- Instead of FATE grinding it's now dungeon grinding with newcomers and those who want to watch cutscenes being trampled over.
- Crafting mats from beastman tribe vendors.
- Some tough fights for endame people.
- PvP is extremely imbalanced.

[Tupsi]

^^Loves it so much, he/she got (almost) everything to 50.

I don't know about you but it wasn't hard to get a 50 class come 1.20ish. Synapse was right though - Don't expect FFXI in terms of scope, don't expect a Final Fantasy game, keep in mind this is an MMO designed to "fit into the market", so if you know how other MMOs tend to update, you'll know what to expect here. The biggest changes were them nerfing older content (some more than others), 450/week myth cap and higher exp in dungeons.

They added some dungeons too I suppose, but they simply moved WP gear > AK > Pharos and reintroduced 1.0 items in the Hard Mode dungeons.

[am0n]

...don't expect a Final Fantasy game...

Except that this is very much a Final Fantasy game. It may not be the Final Fantasy game YOU want, but it very much is Final Fantasy.

I've spoken to a lot of people who have played 1.0 and 2.0 (I only played 1.0 beta and dropped it immediately because it was not my cup of tea). Generally, they seem to enjoy the new game (2.0), as it streamlined a lot of things and made it back into a game instead of a second job. Some were disappointed. If you have played FFXI and FFXIV 1.0 and really loved everything about them, you may feel disappointed, as 2.0 does indeed take on many of the streamlined features that are prevalent in modern MMOs (some people call this 'WoW Clone'). However, the game is still Final Fantasy. You ride a chocobo, you can level up multiple classes on one character, there are Moogles and Primals and Omni-Slash Limit Breaks. There is a very enjoyable story that they plan to keep moving forward with each content patch.

If you want to play a Final Fantasy MMO, you will probably enjoy 2.0. If you want to play a specific Final Fantasy MMO, you may be disappointed. It's all about going into it with the correct expectations.