Are the developers of XIV out of touch?

[Cirgellon]

It sounds more like the OP just didn't get the one thing they want, and call them out of touch because they don't satisfy a single persons request. That's kind of a silly attitude...

I play a lot, and I don't care at all about how my characters look. I don't know who you are speaking for in the OP.

Extra character creation options would not have kept your frineds playing a few thousand more hours. People jump between games, period. The game can be perfecf, and many people will still leave it as new games come out, or life takes over. Also, you are never going to get enough content to constantly have new things to do. It takes years to develop normal games, which give you 8-40 hours of play. You are spending hundreds/thousands of hours in this game and giving them little time to develop stuff. That's why MMOs focus on grinding.