I believe this is because they want a range of backgrounds behind their opinions. Because they want this game to be marketable, they need to get all different kinds of feedback--from people who have little experience with MMOs, people who have lots of experience with MMOs, etc. If there's one thing that WoW brought to light is that accessibility is key to making money. As such, companies cannot afford to appeal to either the casual or hardcore playerbase. They have to balance the two.
TL;DR: Long-time players of XIV and/or XI don't make up the entire demographic that they're aiming for.
I reviewed my square enix account and discovered that the email had been sent to an address that has since been converted to a Gmail account but was no longer being forwarded.
I submitted a ticket explaining this last night and contacted SE just a few minutes ago. They confirmed my Legacy status,assured me that a beta code is on the way and gave me an escalation ticket no. for confirmation. I hope this helps anyone finds themselves in the position I was in. See yall on FFXIV (and FFXI if your from Shiva)!