Why don't I find a site on Internet that explains what items are for?

[Angelhearth]

In other games I've played, notably World of Warcraft, there are tons of sites that will explain what the different items are. For FFXIV the only sites I find are mostly just copying what is in the games flavor text, and maybe, if your damned lucky, the location of where to obtain it, but never have I found a site that explains anything in-depth. Am I wrong? Is it just that the garbage sites always comes on top of Google search? They might have comments from users, but that isn't very often, and depending on your users to supply you with the information, when you live high on ad's seems like a way to scam the players. Anyway, finished with the ranting, but if anyone knows of a good place to go, for real information, I would be thankful.

[Esmoire]

I thought Gamer Escape was excellent. Usually if you scroll down, you can see where you can get it, what it's used for, what you can craft with it, if it was a limited run, and more.

[Halivel]

Garland Tools shows both sources where you can get the item and where you can use it for most items in the game (they stopped to list armor and minions gotten from dungeons since Stormblood for some reason, though). Along with this one, there's "gamer escape" and "ffxiv consolegames wiki" that have a lot of info.

There also was a very good and deep database called ffxivdb, but they stopped updating it not long before the end of Stormblood and eventually closed the website, too.

And last but not the least is the official database that has almost every possible info you would potentionally need.

[Rongway]

what is in the games flavor text, and maybe, if your damned lucky, the location of where to obtain it, but never have I found a site that explains anything in-depth

What do you need to know besides what the tooltip says and where to get it?

[AduroT]

What do you need to know besides what the tooltip says and where to get it?

What you can trade it in for and where.

[Rongway]

What you can trade it in for and where.

I don't really count that, as the answer to "what can I do with this?" is really just the answer to "where do I get this other thing?".

At any rate, between Garland, Gamerescape, and Lodestone, I'm not sure what kind of info the OP wants. That's pretty comprehensive coverage there. Yeah there's occasionally an item entry with a missing source, but it's a far cry from the dearth of information the OP suggests.

[AduroT]

But yeah, Gamer Escape has the best information in my experience. Google the item/NPC/ect, and scroll down to look for their site’s return.

[Kleeya]

The Google you use must be a strange one if the first search results doesn't give you all the previous sites already recommanded to you, on top of the official Lodestone which also gives tons of useful information like how to craft it, where to find/buy it, which recipe it is a part of, how this mount/minion/armor/weapon look on some users screenshots, etc.

[Canadane]

Literally this very website you're posting on has an entire database.
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/playguide/db/

Like it's the official website even. While it may not be as feature rich as some other sites (garlondtools), or as easy to access due to LACK of features as some others (gamerscape), it's always kept up to date with the patches since SE updates it along with the game. You're not relying on a third party to ensure proper data.

All three options listed have exactly what you complain you couldn't find. Where things are procured, where the NPCs related to them are, what quests may be involved, how much it sells for, etc.
Also complaining about ads? Adblock is your friend. Though that's another plus to the Lodestone I guess. SE doesn't need to sell ad space since you already pay for it lol.

Edit: Dangit, Kleeya beat me to this.

[AduroT]

I mean yeah, it’s usually within the first four or so, but as I’m on a phone, so anything beyond the first, maybe second result, and I have to scroll down.