Many times on these forums I've seen people saying they don't want to see a return to the grind that was xi. I actually find the grind in this game to be more of a chore. The reason is that you really had to learn in xi. You had to know your role in a party, what others roles were and how yours interacted with them. Knowing which ws you could pull off with which of the other jobs, having to judge that hate threshold because getting it wrong really hurt, these things kept us actively involved and challenged.
Okay so this game was intended for more of a casual gamer, but being a final fantasy mmo means that it has attracted mostly former xi players. Pitch the game at the audience you have rather than the one you wanted but didnt get.