I think the changes to CON and THM are fantastic! Magic chaining looks like a fun and exciting new mechanic for XIV. I cannot wait for 1.20 so I can start developing new play styles for both WHM and BLM. If they kept it the way it was or used the XI model, XIV would just have seriously lacked challenge as I would just have copied old play styles from the past.

As for those people that feel spell distribution being "off"..you need to go play/re-play some of the classics (I-VI) or I found some quick reads :D Black mage (link) and White mage (link). I hope that the Dev team got inspiration from the older games because going back to the roots is always a great way to salute your fan-base.

Also remember that these are the spell/abilities learned up to level 50. They will be raising the level cap soon-ish. I thought I read in 1.21?