I seen this on the Beta forums, thought it was a pretty good read (albeit a bit lengthy).
http://forum.square-enix.com/ARR-Test/threads/53673-Design-Concepts-for-FINAL-FANTASY-XIV-A-Realm-Reborn
(please take this down if it's already been posted on these forums )
I really feel like Yoshi-P has his head on pretty straight for this game. I know talk is cheap, but the man seems to know his way around an MMO.