I mean just for clarification I would say the term casual is a separate meaning, in that back in my day (FF11, OSRS, WOW, Diablo 2, etc.) casual was anyone that wasn't hardcore, and we just called crafters only just that. Today it's different because the amount of brainless content is SO MUCH HIGHER. That term that seems to have penetrated the most "midcore" is actually closer to the older style of casual where gameplay was still engaging, required some investment, you had to use your brain at least somewhat, but the payoffs felt rewarding.

To that I'd say this team just can't figure it out, or that the constraints and cost cutting put on them is so intrusive to the teams ability to make things complete that it has become a detriment. Either way, at this point I think it would be REALLY healthy for FFXIV to lose a good amount of players for a bit, just to put the heat under them. Currently this is SE's lifeline and if FFXIV starts to drop even harder, SE will have no choice but to listen to player demands. They are a business after all and this is the give and take, the push pull of how capitalism at this scale works.