I love the gcd for two reasons:
carpel tunnel syndrome. I click less buttons and my hands hurt less. Having a longer gcd with meaningful spells lets me play for fun and in less pain.
it lets me play on my big screen, laid back and comfortable with my wife next to me watching or doing something else. I dont feel at a disadvantage while gaming on the bed / couch.
Focus on MSQ, that should expose you to most of the content of the game. Your ARC will lead to SMN and SCH, which are DPS and heals respectively. As for crafting I wouldnât sweat it too much. FFXIV crafting systems have a lot more depth but are also a lot harder (and a poop ton more expensive) than leveling WoW crafting skills. Theyâre complete classes (jobs) of themselves, complete with quests, crafting logs, gear, etc.
Just level to 30 and unlock SMN, and try to enjoy the story and aesthetic. SMN is almost always top tier DPS with an engaging rotation.
I donât know when they last played, but I recently created an alt just to check out the current leveling experience, and I hit level 15 with a minimal amount of combat. I mostly just ran fetch quests. Even so, I had three buttons by that time. Also, the rotations vary by job. White Mage, for example has a two button DPS rotation:
As well as a very simple healing rotation up until level 50:
There hasnât been a rotation that simple in WoW since WotLK, so I could see how someone coming from current WoW would find that off-putting.
Oh itâs no WoW killer for sure, but it might be what pulls me away from WoW for a while, if I ever choose to go back. Itâs exactly what Iâve wanted in WoW for years, hah.
Yeah, thereâs not much combat if you know what youâre doing. But if youâre just think âget quest do questâ and hitting up everything you see, thereâs a decent amount. So yeah, some are fine to just put their head down and plow through once someone tells him to just beeline the MSQ to the good stuff. 
Thatâs good to know. Oddly enough, the in depth nature of professions/crafting is what made me decide to check it out. Quests, gear, and the like for professions? Sign me up! Itâs fine if itâs challenging. It sounds interesting most importantly.
Top tier DPS is good and all but my main reason is because Summoners (like Black, White, and Red mages) are iconic to me with their summons and their horn helmet. But itâs good to know Iâm not handicapping myself and can be optimal AND aesthetically pleasing! xD
Damage meters are more prevalent than you might think. Its just that people dont talk about them outside of their FC.
While I wouldnât say no to some more abilities added around the level 35-40 point, I donât think anything before that really needs to change. lol
Iâve leveled classes recently, and itâs fine. Iâve watched new players recently. Itâs fine. Itâs just not the right pacing and game style for everyone. And not every game should.
So when the game FIRST came out, they initially tied all the jobs to basic classes. It used to be that you needed level 30 of one class and 15 of another to unlock a job, but a while back they removed the level 15 requirement, so itâs just level 30 of one class to unlock a job.
Conjuror - White Mage (Healer
Arcanist - Scholar (Healer) or Summoner (DPS)
Marauder - Warrior (Tank)
Pugilist - Monk (DPS)
Thaumaturge - Black Mage (DPS)
Lancer - Dragoon (DPS)
Gladiator - Paladin (Tank)
Rogue, which becomes Ninja, was introduced later and requires a level 15 class to unlock. But has no other requirements Iâm aware of.
In later expansions, they added jobs that start higher than level 1 that donât require pre-classes. These are:
Requires Heavensward - these start at 30 or 35 I forget which, but require at least one level 50 job and completion of the realm reborn story to unlock:
Astrologian (Healer)
Dark Knight (Tank)
Machinist (DPS)
Requires Stormblood - start at level 50, require at least one level 50 character(might be 60 - could be misremembering):
Red Mage (DPS)
Samurai (DPS)
Requires Shadowbringer - start at level 60, require at least one level 60 character:
Dancer (DPS)
Gunbreaker (Tank)
Most jobs upgrade at level 30. For example, Conjurer becomes White Mage, and Rogue becomes Ninja. Arcanist is unique in that it splits into two jobs at level thirty that still share the same XP track. So at level 30, you can be a Summoner (DPS) or a Scholar (Healing) all on the Arcanist XP track. The job you upgrade to is dependent on the weapon and job crystal that youâre equipping. If you equip the Summoner crystal, youâll be in Summoner mode. If you swap out to your Scholar crystal, youâll be in Scholar mode. All the XP you earn as a Summoner also levels you up as a Scholar and vice versa because theyâre both considered Arcanists.
Blue Mage and Red Mage have their own XP tracks, and they become available at level 50. They start out at level 30, kind of like how Death Knights originally started at level 58. Blue Mage is considered a âlimited job,â so it canât queue for dungeons. Mostly because traditional scaling does not apply to a Blue Mage, and theyâre often able to punch way above their weight class. On the other hand, Blue Mages have insane XP bonuses on the open world, and killing a mob as a Blue Mage often gives the same amount of XP that a FATE or levequest would.
Other jobs that become available at higher levels include:
The next expansion is adding a new Reaper class, too.
If you hit the âJâ button, you can bring up your detailed quest log, and each quest has a box to the right of it. If you keep clicking on the box until the 
appears, you can hide that quest from the quest tracker that youâre talking about.
It gets really engaging later on then. Can summon Demi-Bahamut and Phoenix. 
I think both games have their niche. FFXIV to me seems a lot more single playerish than wow does.
Yes, but also no.
Its against ToS to have them but there is no way to detect it unless a GM is actively monitoring you for evidence. So as long as you say nothing or do nothing to implicate yourself, addon all you want.
FFXIV does not support addons, and theyâre technically against the terms of use. As long as youâre not broadcasting your usage of them, though, theyâre tolerated.
I believe the default hotkey is J for Journal in FFXIV.
The key issue is that the pacing and game style of the most recent content can be someoneâs style, while the starter content is not.
The early game experience is not representative of the endgame.
And thereâs no easy solution, because much of what the game is now is completely reliant on what came before. The game is fantastic now specifically because of its history and story, both in-game and on a meta level.
Thank you both.
I personally feel like anyone who doesnât like the start probably also wonât fully like the end⌠and if they end up pushing through, theyâll be one of those grumpy palace of the dead âwe canât kill even one enemy we donât have to or Iâm gonna whine about you going slowâ players. lol
Yes, thatâs what I read about the Blue Mage, and thatâs fine about them not being able to do dungeons. From what I hear the dungeon experience is decent in FF? But I am mostly looking to explore and stop and smell the roses. I never got to be a Blue Mage in FFXI. The concept of them is exciting, learning abilities from creatures out in the world. And I love their aesthetic, although I think I prefer their overall aesthetic from XI. That doesnât matter though.
And thanks for the info! Good to know Iâm on the right path so far. I am on the trial version now, I guess I only have access to the âvanillaâ game, up to level 50? Do yâall know if Iâm on a time limit with this trial? Like I said I wanna get my âmoneys worthâ hue hue hue with this free version but if I end up liking it (so far so good) I will probably look into a purchase in the future.
Itâs not necessarily that they canât detect them - they can. They just wonât do anything about it unless you weaponize them against other players.
I canât speak broadly, but I know quite a few people that directly contradict that feeling of yours.