Most jobs should have had the animation upgrade MCH had

[Shurrikhan]

Because on matters based on subjective opinion, it's not actually that easy to identify the "middle ground". What's "average" to you can be "over-the-top" for someone else, or "too bland" for another player.

Just take the colour saturation for the game, for example. To me, the default setting is already just nice, but for many people, the colours appear washed out. Many resort to using ReShade to pump up the contrast to levels that appear way too extreme to me, but nonetheless suit them just fine.

So, frankly, this is not an issue for the team to fuss over. There'll be no way to please everyone on this matter.

That said, there are factors that appeal to both sides, even if others like particle effect size, color, and density (all together: "presence") may not. Would anyone look at the animation for Plunge, for instance and think, "How did something so basic possibly get through development? He's just stepping towards the enemy!" And yet there's not a single particle effect on it. Bloodspiller, despite it's being so quickly clipped (especially relative to the infamous Plunge) and thereby muted, is mostly the same—complex animation, relatively little particle flair necessary. And while it's animation may look a bit show-off, it's not so outright without physical basis or contrary to prior design principles as, say, the new Machinist Heated shots, wherein kick-flips increase bullet speed, and you're somehow no longer bound to your usual turret limit, except only for those particular shots...

So while particle effect presence or the like may be subject to polar and uncompromising opinions, a balance of elegance (even if somewhat bending practicality) and apparent expertise (not necessarily more practical, but keeping such in consideration) has far, far closer poles and considerably more overlap.

Heck, take the Witcher's / Geralt's sword animations, even from his cutscenes, for example: I've done enough longsword fencing myself to understand how, why, and when a lot of those get ridiculous, but at least they can excuse themselves such that I'll still, especially in a physics-less MMO like XIV, forgive them so long as they look that neat.