As a former FFXI player, I can tell you: The game is different.
It's not nearly as group-dependent, and it's not nearly as grind-intensive. I, for one, have never farmed for money - though I do prospecting as I'm running from place to place - but I've also never bought a single piece of armor; all my gear comes from quests.
Conversely, because it's not as group-required, it's also not as social. People don't chit-chat nearly as much, and the "silly" levels seem a lot lower.
So. Yeah.
It's different.
I definitely wouldn't say it's hard at the beginning - certainly not the grind-grind-grind type of hard that FFXI had. Just depends on how you define "hard," I guess.