No MMORPG to date has ever launched with every feature that every other MMORPG had at the same time as the launch. It would be a fools errand for any game development company to even try. Features have to be prioritized, and strangely enough, this community told SE what the priorities were in our responses to the Player Polls (see links below).
First Player Poll Results
Second Player Poll Results
Third Player Poll Results
As you can see, PVP ranked either last or second to last in
OUR priority (it never breaks out of single digits). Now, that doesn't mean that SE is not putting any PVP in the game ... it just means they are going to work at getting the stuff we said is
REALLY important right and in at launch.
Character Development, Content, Graphics, Combat, User Interface, Economics.
Those are what reviewers are going to look at to determine if FFXIV:ARR is going to be great. If all of those are as good or better than the current MMORPG line up, they will easily forgive that you don't get to build a house, or kill your fellow adventures, or have flying mounts right at launch ... especially if you you have things like Gold Saucer and Crystal Tower at launch.