I too dislike the current targeting systems. I hate it so much that I spent hours fiddling with different mice/keyboards/controllers/gaming keypads
with the joystick(Razer Tartarus Chroma)/etc until i found the best setup i could.

I tried making the game more arpg-like with macros one time that targetted the closest enemy and activated my skills

Basically:

Heavy Swing
/targetstuffhere
/ac "Heavy Swing"

Skull Sunder
/targetstuffhere(I dont remember this macro command lol)
/ac "Skull Sunder"

I did something similar to this for every attack-type skill and it actually felt really really good. Almost perfect.

As soon as my warrior runs up and hits something like say for example, overpower, it automatically selects the target and overpowers them. It felt very hack-and-slash and helped me avoid targetting the traditional way. I also added a line in my overpower macro that said that if i was not in range, to use tomohawk instead. It was pretty damn great.

The only problem with this is that macros in xiv suck. Sometimes they are delayed horribly or dont even register if you lag a bit. Also the queuing of actions is really nice to have. I dont play like this any longer but if they fixed macros a bit i would do this for all melee jobs.

Timers in macros are only good for crafting. Almost never use it in combat and even using macros at all can be a massive problem sometimes in high end raids with hardcore statics.

The best control scheme ive found to make playing the game "comfortable" is the Razer Tartarus Chroma keypad and occasional macros for targetting a focus target/lasttarget/etc as well as using a mouse to target/rotate camera/navigate menues. Its a pain in the but to select things yourself. In fact it gives me hand strain. The problem is I can immediately click on anything i see. Compared to clicking tab multiple times until its finally selected. But mice in general are terrible for extended periods of use. Ive been looking for a replacement for a mouse for years. Though nothing beats a keypad. Controller is close but having to change pages to select skills in xiv is awful. On my keypad i have every skill set up on 3 different hotbars. I just used modifier keys like CTRL and ALT. Wow this ended up being a massive post. I guess im a little obsessed with finding a better setup. Im mean really, come on. there arent even any controllers that naturally fit into human hands. The natural posture of a rested human hand is something youd do when you gently chest pass a basketball in gym class.