As I've heard people say before, this is Everquest, not Everloot. The same is true for FFXI. You are exploring the world and enjoying it and not just fighting enless monsters for the coolest stuff. You said yourself that you enjoyed the quest system, and that's part of what it's about. That and the community feel. Join some parties and you'll find the game that much more enjoyable. Besides, if there were lots of enemies that all dropped great loot, there would just be a bunch of level 70 people wandering around, and that would be boring. You have to earn your levels and status in this game, and that's what makes it entertaining.

Overall I'm enjoying it a great deal. After playing Everquest for two years I find this to be a much more enjoyable game.