I agree that FFXIV is an RPG, and I'm not saying to turn it into one as quick as that. I like the realistic animations as well, I just think they take too long. Our characters don't run fast enough where you need to take two seconds to stop yourself. Even at full sprint in RL I could stop myself quicker than that by doing the same motion with my legs and crouching a bit to slow down. It's more like they're running around at a leisurely pace, and if you're with friends hunting monsters, I don't think you would be going about it at a leisurely pace.

You're also right and I completely agree that things take a couple seconds delay before continuing. It's kind of what I'm getting at. Not only does the running/entering battle take too long, but pretty much everything else in general has this delay behind it which in itself makes the game feel even heavier.