The player education issue is something I wonder about a lot. I try to stay versed in most of the classes to some degree, and as a healer I find the STR/VIT thing of particular interest. While I see a lot of nuanced discussion of the merits of STR tanking on the forums, I've never really seen those nuanced discussions in the game itself. When it comes up there, it's usually an all or nothing thing with most tanks I've met, especially raid-level tanks. That attitude does seem to trickle down to the rest of the playerbase, since most players don't rely on the forums for their information and gearing. They ask someone they know.

Tanks are also in a weird spot when it comes to gearing. When comparing gear for all other classes, player skill doesn't really matter, nor does group skill (with a small exception for Piety for healers, as healing is a rather...idiosyncratic exercise, and enough mana for one healer might not be enough for another). If someone asks you what stats to stack for MNK, you can say Crit and Det, and skill or experience doesn't really factor into the question at all.

That's not so for tanks, but it seems that people are used to having the easy answer, since so much of the rest of the game's gearing is so simple.