Part of the problem here is that FFXI is at -least- two, possibly three different games. Some people on the forums seem to be sad that XIV isn't CoP-era XI, some that it's not ToAU-era XI. Oddly enough -everyone- on the forums seems to hate Abyssea-era XI, which in my opinion (between Magians, FoV/GoV, and Abyssea) is the best the game has been the whole time it's been out.

Honestly, it's apples and oranges trying to compare XIV to XI especially under Yoshida's control. Despite having the same battle director and significant dev team overlaps even still, the games feel entirely different - basically, people just love to scream and whine about "FFXI-2" (or the "FFXIV is becoming a WoW clone", which is arguably even worse given the fact that borrowing elements of a proven successful work is generally a -good- idea), either one way or the other (and sometimes both ways in the same thread) as a replacement for actually having a reasoned opinion about the game and its issues. It's easier to gnash your teeth and curse the Twelve than to actually explain what you do or don't think is a good idea and why