I had started this reply by writing four paragraphs about what I hate about FFXIV and what I like. I then realized that I could sum up all of my complaints in a single statement: it sucks the big one.
I have been a FF fan-boy since I picked up the original when I was 9, so please do not attack me for my opinion on this particular incarnation. I do not believe many FF fans out there will find FFXIV to be worthy of the games lineage. If I were to compare XIV to XI, I would have to say that: in areas where improvements should have been made, there were none; in areas where improvements would have made players happier, there were few (and most had anything to do with the actual game - goodbye PlayOnline); and in other areas, the development/planning/whatever team has taken significant measures to guarantee I will not play the game for more than 3 days.
Maybe the whole plan was to sell lots of copies due to hype, make $60 on the initial sale, and then $15/mo for 2 months for all those schmucks that held on hoping "it'll get better soon, you'll see". That's gotta be several hundred thousand dollars, easy.
For now, I go back to playing my good, old, non-MMO, standbys of FF's I(1) through VII.