It's an extremely good game. ARR is the type of game that can pull off a required subscription fee (lots of sub fee options still out there in hybrid models, though). For one, it's very good as a game, it's beautiful, and the attention to detail is stunning (for example, stars twinkle, the sky actually rotates, the moon moves independent from the sky and goes through phases, etc). But more than anything, it's Final Fantasy, and FF has a huge built in fan base, many of whom are older, still willing to pay sub fees, and are actually looking for the small amount of filtering a sub fee does with the player base.
1.xx was a decent game when it closed down, but it was so fundamentally flawed in terms of game engine and coding that it could not be saved.
Edit - Meant to add that Wildstar is also going to charge sub fees. I've felt we we're going to see a return to some games attempting sub fees for a while, which is already happening. They'll have to be very good games to pull it off long term, though, and more than likely many of them will be using sub fees for as long as they can with a planned switch to F2P or hybrid down the road.
ARR is about the only new game right now that I feel can pull it off long term. Elder Scrolls is a very underwhelming game. And don't forget that FFXI still requires a sub fee, and SE has been making good money off that game since it launched. ARR will be no different, except it actually appeals to a wider audience and will do better than XI.
