It comes down to what could, and could not, be done with the old engine (old animations and their coding) and what the new engine can do and what it is capable of.

I like the animations we have currently. the attack, running around, it all feels very fluid and real. even casting.

Animation lock is an issue, becuase the way it is written and looks now, is when you cast or do an action your legs are not moving.

this can be fixed by sliding. IE you can move even though your legs aren't moving, or you can overwrite the animation with running. IE: you can complete the cast still, but you lose the animation because you are moving.

I think this is where some people are confused, and are tieing these animation to animation lock. I personally am Ok with sliding. I'm also ok with animation lock. but I also agree that things could be better paced. I dont' believe that speed means good pacing either. so just saying 'combat is faster' doesnt mean it is better paced. if each fight takes 30 seconds on average and is boring. I'll be bored playing. i'd prefer 3-4 minute fights that are action packed and entertaining, but I understand some people don't feel the way i feel. they'd rather just stab a mob in the face and be done with it. I used to lose myself for hours playing FFT. the fights there took a long time sometimes. but i wouldn't say there had poor pacing.

A lot of gamers covet twitch reflex. so they like things fast, micro-second reactions. etc. i don't think this type of gameplay has a place in the MMORPG world. in a game like Mechwarrior or League of Legends I can see it being important. but i don't really feel that my FFXIV needs to be super fast paced.