I think part of the issue is FFXIV has hands down way more research necessary to perform at base level than most other games.

Yes, for WoW and ESO you will probably need an online guide for rotation, build and maybe recommendations on addons.

FFXIV needs rotation guides but also guides for things like how to know when you are actually in AoE, how to set up a hotbar or crossbar, how to make an efficient UI. Controller users need guides for basic things like targeting.

The result is a game with a skill ceiling that may not be much higher than most other games but whose skill floor is MUCH higher... meaning having to exert a weird amount of effort to do something that should be simple or intuitive.

That means your capable playerbase is more narrow.