Regarding "What's the point of subbing now when I can play later?" - loads of reasons. It's a great game, for a start, it's the time when most people are playing - one of the worst things about joining FFXI late on was that only about three EoFFers were still playing and I only played with a couple of them regularly - for about a month before they too departed. Also, they are adding benefits for people who pay up. There are bonuses for the first 30 days subscription, the first 60 days, the first 90 days and more are planned down the line. So there will always be things that you can only get with a solid subscription, it seems. Likewise, there will probably be seasonal one-off events which often happened in FFXIV 1.x.

But mostly the people. I mean, who wants to turn up in time for everyone to leave? This game is way, way more fun than FFXI 2008 was. And far prettier, too. Not shy on content, either, particularly with decently sized patches coming every few months.

I expect a gambling class to appear in Ul'dah eventually as a subjob of Pugilist (since their guild is also a casino or near a casino or something, at least it was in 1.x) or as part of the Golden Saucer addition. No idea how Musketeer will fit into everything, but guns bore me in fantasy games. Never liked using Irvine or Vincent. Barret was alright because, hey, he had a gun on his arm. That's fantasy. None of this "i shoot u with mah gun" business which is more suited to Call of Duty.

As for the new race - when you pay for the first 30 days you get a Fantasia item that gives you a one-off chance to redo your character creation when you sleep at the inn. Dunno how it works exactly, but the Lodestone shows a male Hyur turning into a female Miqo'te.

What do you think about the possibility of PvP?
Meh. PVP doesn't interest me.

Would you like voice chat integrated into the game?
I feel it excludes people and therefore I'm not interested in it. I can understand other people liking it, but yeah, I'd rather have any communication be on a global level, not on a "if you're in this voice chat and have a microphone and speakers and like to hear my voice and use your voice" level.

Are you interested in customization of your interface?
I think the default look is pretty good, but there are some minor things I'd change such as the size of certain things. I'm still tweaking parts of the existing UI, though. It's surprisingly customisable as it is.

Is it too early to be talking about an Expansion?
Nah. Why not?

Do you think SE is pandering too much to new players?
If anything, I sometimes wonder if it's doing too much for us older players.

Are you excited about this release?
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss~