Ive played a ton of FFXIV and coming back to XI has taken away any desire to ever play that game again. XI is just better in almost every way especially with all of the QoL improvements since the last time I played.
FFXIV has a lot going for it (I played it for two years) but at the end of it I just felt bored and empty. I will come back when Endwalker drops because I do like running the dungeons for the first time and Sage looks dope af, but besides that...I've lost my will to play.
XIV feels like a literal theme park. One could argue that XI has gotten weaker as its gotten more accessible but in my experience, even with all of the changes, XI still feels real, challenging, foreboding, and exciting all at the same time. With plenty of fun, diverse activities to participate in. /rant