There were lots of good qualities in FFXI. A lot of the accomplishments were mentioned. There were just certain things to look forward to. At 18 you worked on getting your subjob, at 20 you got your chocobo, at 30 you worked on the Rank 3 missions, 30 also gave you the chance to work on advanced job quests, 40 had AF weapon, 50-60 had AF armor and more missions.

Gear also meant something. It seems in FFXIV you can get by with less than adequate gear right up to Lv.50 in the span of 3 days. It's almost like there is no point in upgrading gear until you hit 50. In FFXI you camped or saved for different sets of gear as you leveled. You really noticed the gear upgrades. My favorite was working on the RSE gear quests. You had to travel to different mid-level zones and open chests to get your RSE Pattern to give to the Goblin in Jeuno. It's just another example of how it seemed that each set of levels had a task you wanted to complete.
The zones were also unique in FFXI. Most zones had a distinct feel. The zones in FFXIV just seem like a never-ending dungeon generator. There is little to explore and very little flavor.

The biggest difference between FFXIV and FFXI I noticed, besides the bland FFXIV zones, was the NPC quality. FFXI NPC had a great deal of personality. If you had ten minutes to make a list of FFXI and FFXIV NPC the FFXI would be at least double. There were many memorable NPCs in FFXI. Each city had a host of characters you either loved or loved to hate. Even NPCs that weren't part of the main storylines were memorable. You did quests for Shantotto, The Star Onion Brigade, Nanaa Mihgo the Mithra Thief and her lackies, Cardians, Ministry Leaders, The Star Sybil and her guard Semih Lafihna. Those are just a few NPCs from Windurst. FFXI did an excellent job of creating a world filled with NPCs you were interested in.