FFxi is better in comparison of pain vs. pleasure
As a mmo player for the past 6 years, dabbled 2yr in FFxi, got to genkai, sea, sky etc, along with full clear of vanilla wow back in the day, LK kill this year, FFxiv is worse than even some free mmorpg out there.
All they padded up was the insane graphics and skimped everything else as "you'll like it cuz we tell you to."
Sat through the CBT and the OBT and early release, FFxiv is just a big ball of slow moving mass that's late to appease the population and downright spoiled in its superiority complex.
Is it pretty? Extremely. Will it prompt u to go spend $ to build a new rig just so you can have a problem free experience from your end? Yes. Will the game follow through from the server end? You can bet the farm heck no.
Its sad but its the same as the FFxiii reaction, once you get past the visual, you're left with the same "wth did i just buy and play?"