Does anyone need chat bubbles to play? No. Does anyone need big numbers in front of their skill to better visualize it? No. Does anyone need to see shields on top of health bars? No. Does anyone living outside of US/Europe needs XIVAlexander to play? No.

But all of these things makes the gameplay more comfortable. Chat bubbles makes talking to people in crowded areas easier, big numbers in front of skills makes visualizing when a skill is about to go off CD easier and has been implemented by games a decade older than FFXIV, shields on top of health bars simply makes the information more comfortable to look at in the middle of a fight and finally XIVAlexander makes the game actually playable on countries that Squenix hasn't bothered to add servers to. I mean, you play any job, especially casters or jobs that requires lot's of double weaving at 250+ms and tell me how good of an experience you're having.

But here's the worst part, all of these could be added, yet from the pattern I am seeing here, Squenix is quite masterful at creating excuses to not implement QoL stuff unless pressured. If independent modders can do that, surely a multi-billion company can as well.