I've never played FFXIV but I did play FFXI for years on PC using solely the keyboard, never used the mouse. I expect FFXIV will be fairly similar?
I'm going to be playing on PS3 and initially thought I could just get a wireless keyboard and use that alone. But having watched the gamepad videos released by Square Enix (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hqbg9_ZJLw) the controller seems quite effective and user-friendly.
Having played FFXI, I realise the importance of being able to communicate with the other players, so at least some form of typing will be necessary... So what are your views on using:
1) Full-sized wireless Keyboard, no gamepad/controller
2) Gamepad/Controller and mini keypad (something like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xvISXjIIL._SX300_.jpg) <-- Has anyone used these?
OR
3) Mixture of gamepad/controller and a full-sized keyboard <-- Would that be too difficult to keep dropping/picking up your controller to type?