I sincerely hope that XIV doesn't turn casual, thats one of the things that ruined wow in my opinion.

As for how much like WoW XIV is I can say the gameplay is reasonably similar but its the final fantasy elements that make it that much better, the scenery is just simply gorgeous (obviously) the character creation is very detailed (though a customisation for Miqo'te ears would be nice) and on the whole since the community is all about testing the game we have yet to pick up the irritating morons who are completely selfish and generally ruin the gaming experience for others trolls, so The Game (hehe) as soon as it goes live will be the best it will ever be so I feel now is the best time to play.