With the advent of stronger internet connections, recent MMORPGs have come to be able to have defensive and evasive skills similar to offline stand alone games. Despite this, I feel that this does not fit with our customers who play FINAL FANTASY online, and I would like to have everyone play this game steadily for as long of a time as possible, which is why we’ve eliminated action elements to the best of our ability.
With these goals in mind we have built the content and the battle system.
Visually noticeable AoE attacks that you can avoid by moving
A system where you can boost damage by attacking from certain positions
Freedom to put things together by executing skills that follow a specific route
Being able to fixate on dealing the most damage while giving consideration to TP/MP costs in the end-game.
Jump not being essential for clearing content
While it might be thought of as simplistic, the end-game after reaching the level cap is where a good deal of player skill differences will start to appear, especially when adding equipment into the mix. We started designing this game by making the first goal of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn having everyone enjoy this aspect.
This is the reason why there are no action elements in FFXIV content and battle.