Can we stop comparing the two at this point?

[Shurrikhan]

My point mostly is that I honestly think at this point it is really not possible to compare the 2 because they have diverged so much. If it was WoW during Wrath of the Lich King I could have listed MULTIPLE overlaps between core systems the two mmos shared at end game.

If anything, XIV takes most after a more barebone version of modern WoW, rather than anything like WotLK... Since WotLK WoW has become increasingly less RPG-centric, in that you have fewer choices to make, fewer means of customization, and the leveling experience is increasingly treated as mere prelude to the real game to be grinded through quickly. Since its rework into ARR, XIV already started at basically the far end of that path. Heck, that was a specifically stated intent with ARR Beta, that the real game would start only after level cap and that power-customization should now be minimal.

The only ways in which WoW has really diversified itself from XIV over later expansions is in a commitment to larger central systems, rather than being centered solely around token/badge/tomb/marks/points/residue grinds, and through the addition of further gameplay features atop the standard dungeon/raid experience (e.g. more raid difficulties, Mythic+, island expeditions, more PvP variants, whole zones being added after level cap with unique systems and features therein). That's not so much a forking away from XIV as just... having more stuff in general, atop the shared parts.

[linayar]

Heck, that was a specifically stated intent with ARR Beta, that the real game would start only after level cap and that power-customization should now be minimal.

I'm not sure if that's really true considering most contents are playable before max level outside of specific raids and dungeons. Even Bozja can be used as a leveling content. And of course, roulette, which can be a significant portion of one's endgame in FFXIV, is also largely used before max level outside of expert and level cap dungeons. Granted, not all rewards are available unless you are at max level, or at least, at the level range of the current expansion. And some contents require you to unlock with at least one job at max level.

[Penthea]

My point mostly is that I honestly think at this point it is really not possible to compare the 2 because they have diverged so much. If it was WoW during Wrath of the Lich King I could have listed MULTIPLE overlaps between core systems the two mmos shared at end game.

Really? I don't think FFXIV has a large amount of things in common with Wrath more than any of the other expansions I played (I quit at the end of WoD). I wouldn't say any of the stages of WoW are particularly more like FFXIV at all. Many of the core things that make FFXIV the game that it is are completely absent from WoW, and vice versa.

Sure they have a lot in common but this is to be expected from games within the same genre. Every mmorpg I played have a long list of basic things in common.

If anything, XIV takes most after a more barebone version of modern WoW, rather than anything like WotL...

Completely agree, and this is what I mean by these games sharing things due to being in the same genre. The games have similar skeletons but the things that flesh out each of these games is often very very different.

That has seriously changed without a doubt. They are both good MMO's that appeal to different players but trying to list out reason why you may not like FF14 leads people to believe they play the same which is a lie. You can say it runs slow at early game as an easy criticism but by end game you have more abilities then fingers to press them.

Well in that case people need to be smart enough to realise that opinions are not facts, and that you often can't accurately judge the endgame of a game by looking at how it behaves only in the beginning.

For example the game "being slow" was not something that bothered me at all, but that was in part due to being aware that it would be stupid to expect a game at lvl 10 would be the same as lvl 60. When I began to get ogcds that I used often (rotational stuff, as opposed to major cds) I clearly saw that this was designed to fill in the gaps in the "slow" combat. However I do take into account that I have a hardcore raiding background so I would be more likely to understand this than a player who has been mostly casual. That being said I met a lot of casual players who immediately understood this and others with a hardcore raiding background did not until they were informed.

While they're obviously different games, the point of a comparison is not necessarily (and I would even say shouldn't be) about turning one game into the other. But there are parts of one game that you could wish to be in both games rather than just one, whether it be missing features or different implementations of the same features.

And this is a huge reason why comparisons between both games are often made. They are distinct games with their own unique features, but many of the features they have are simply different interpretations of how said feature works as opposed to being entirely different.