Ive played many MMO's.  My first was Anarchy online, WoW, FFXI, Eve, Warhammer, Aion and FFXIV.  I will say, since i played FFXI, making the switch to FFXIV was much easier for me since all the controls and gaming aspects are very similar (lots of the stuff they complained about in the article).  Some of the controls are VERY VERY different from WoW and other mmos so it does take some getting used to.

That article starts off by complaing about, "the bizarre and unfriendly method of getting an account set up, the troublesome patcher, having to exit the game if you want to adjust the graphics settings."  Really, you cant set up an account?  You probably shouldnt be playing the game in the first place, it is no different then setting one up in any other game.  The next thing is the patcher.  The patcher is a torrent system, you can use it, or use any torrent program to download the patch.  When downloading a huge patch i find this much easier then other games.  I will admit that having to change the graphics settings outside the game is annoying, but you had to do this in FFXI also so it was no different for me.

Then it continues to complain about gameplay, and not knowing what to do when you start the game... I guess in every other mmo, you can just wander around.  In FFXIV you have to talk to a few npc's that tell you where to go.  It also complains about not being able to do quests to level.  You get 16 repeatable quests every 36 hours so..... the person creating this article probably couldnt figure that out.

Not being able to open your inventory by pushing a hotkey, this is annoying but FFXI was exactally the same.  They use a menu system so its one extra click, not very difficult.

From that article, "When you want to equip an item to a particular slot, the game doesn't just list the objects you can choose for that slot but, instead, lists your entire inventory. If you want quicker access to what are standard keystrokes in other games, you must create macros."  Another Menu thing, it only highlights the items you can equip to that slot... but it does show your entire inventory.  If you played FFXI, that game was 100% about macros, every ability you used was a huge macro (had to change gear for nearly every single thing you cast, or there was better gear for auto attacking, and then other gear you used for using special abilities), but i havent used any in FFXIV, yet.

The next thing is the economy system.  This is one thing that is somewhat annoying to me.  No Auction House currently.  Instead you have to search other peoples "bazaars" for items you want.  It turns it into more of a memory game... because obviously people sell things for cheaper than others.  The only thing that is good about it is, well people dont really undercut to the extent that things are worthless.  Then the vendor system, it IS hard to tell who sells what, but thats what the internet is for... there are many websites that list EVERYTHING already that is in the game and where you can buy it, how much it costs, what drops it.

Wait you can only XP for 8 hours!? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abE09-tqhoM that explains it in more detail.  Not as big of an issue as i originally thought.  People got to level 30 in the first week somehow and i think the max level is 50 right now.

Then the article goes into a bunch of what they think are gameplay flaws.  I tend to not pay too much attention to gamespot reviews, because usually i dont agree with them.

Things I like about the game:

-Well if you played Final fantasy tactics... the gameplay is very similar.  You level different jobs and learn abilities.  You then can equip any of these abilities on any of your jobs.  You get two different levels.  Physical level (stat points) and Job levels (abilities).

-You dont have to level a new character for every class, your main character gets every job, you just have to equip the proper weapon to get the job.

-Unlike FFXI, you can solo in this game.

-Unlike FFXI, there are many hotkeys to push, every class basically has an "energy bar" so you are always using an ability.

-All Crafting is it's own job, and you get xp for it.

-Missions and Storyline, one thing i always liked about final fantasy games.

Things i DONT like about FFXIV:

-Character Creation, not enough customizability.  Aion was by far the best game for this.

-Lack of many different types of mobs, usually it's just an upgraded version of a lower mob with a slightly different skin.  (this was a problem in FFXI also)

-Not being able to see the whole map, very annoying.

Reason why WoW Players will not like this game (Recapped some things discussed in last point):

-Capped XP, not a big issue in my mind, but you cant level to max level in 1 week.

-Different Interface?  Not your typical interface/controls with the menu system.

-I guess not having quests to do 100% of the time?  Grinding in FFXIV is very good xp and very good money... probably better than questing in my opinion.  Also not knowing where to go for quests(there's an option that shows you exactally where to go).  I remember having to thotbot everything in vanilla wow so...

-Lack of AH

There is probably a lot more that i cant think of right now, but i will add to this later probably.  Overall, if you played FFXI, you will like this game, otherwise it's completly different then wow, and different is usually bad.

Oh yeah... you need a really good computer to make the game look nice without lag.