Well... as a student in video games, I just want to say that the Crystal Tool engine used for FFXIV is just a crappy unoptimised one. Just because Crystal tool was first made for PS3 system (remember GTA4 on pc ? It was the same problem....).

So, my PS3 can run FFXIII in FHD wich have a lot more visuals effect than FFXIV on a GPU 7950gtx, but my PC can't run FFXIV more than 1600x1050px with less than medium graphics options because it freeze/ram ?
Don't make me laugh.
Moreover, my PC can run Crysis in FHD with ultra graphics options (and believe me, there's much more polygons than in FFXIV with 1000 soldiers, and the map are very huge too).

So, yeah as a student on video games, I know that we can't do a MMO with crysis-like graphics.
But you can't say that the Crystal Tool version used for FFXIV is well optimised. Seriously, if I just try to run Ambiant Occlusion or Depth of Field, It freeze/ram so much that the game is unplayable.

If SE optimise the Crystal Tool engine, they'll perfectly be able to add some more effect like terrain shadows, or volumetric light.