I'll be the first to admit I loved xi and think there is a lot from it that could be used as inspiration for features in xiv.
Skill ups isn't one of them. Skill ups do not equal skill. I remember summoning and dismissing elementals in xi to skill up, it didn't make me a more skilled player.
I'd rather have content that makes people want to learn how to play their jobs. There aren't so many players on our severs that we don't soon learn to know them by either experience or by reputation anyway.