If the re-launched Final Fantasy XIV has one really killer feature, it is that it shifts the tone and nature of both levelling and end-game content substantially away from the WoW model (without ignoring WoW's evolutions of the genre entirely).
I have no idea what you mean. Granted I haven't played WoW since vanilla, but in FFXIV, you level up via quests, gain rest XP by logging off at an inn^W"sanctuary," and the game doesn't "really" begin until you hit level 50. Almost exactly like WoW, except for the part where you have to level a second class up to level 15 in order to play your original class past level 30 and the fact that the cap is 50, not 60.
End game content is then annoying raids with strict loot lock-outs, making for a very slow gear progression grind.
Now I have to admit that I don't know what leveling in WoW is like today, but leveling in FFXIV is basically identical to what WoW did at launch. Except you can (well, are forced to, if we're honest) level multiple classes on the same character. But it's still basically "grind quests until level cap, then switch to a gear treadmill." Just like WoW. How is this different? I'm not seeing it.