A wild Wall-of-Text appears ! !! !
I will mainly reply to only the first post, and not the derailing or what ever it is that has been going on since. It would seem that the topic is about 'leeching experience/limit points' and not so much about 'leeching' in events like Voidwatch, or the upcoming Legion.
These are two very different kinds of 'leeching' and I wouldn't really compare them to each other and the reasons may or may not follow.
Firstly, 'leeching in an experience/limit points party'.
I think it's more just the way to level up now, instead of actually leeching and is widely accepted. If there are actually people who just go away or fool around without actually contributing at all while it is expected, it's up to the group to take action (such as let it pass or kick the individual). This (not helping the group in any way) is also the only way it can hurt you, as a member of said group, that I can think of.
I personally do not think it is good game-design. For one, the level limit for entering Abyssea should be at least around the 60-75 region but that's not how the game developer-team feels so this is how it is now. They also conceived the 'book-burns' which I never took part of, and it's just as 'bad design' as Abyssea is on that regard.
Sure, there were "Astral-burns" and such back before Abyssea, which was basically abusing a game-weakness, but not seen as an issue either, but it would seem that the developers finally decided to go with this and 'skip' a lot of the old content.
The funny thing is that I never was much for partying myself, and rather went solo/duo\trio from day one some 5 years ago, and still do. Obviously it took me a long time to level up back then, before Abyssea (where I was in an EXP-party 1 or 2 times, ever). Even so, the not-so-many-times I did level up with a regular group I did enjoy those far more than the parties that exist nowadays (yeah, I don't do them but I know I would not enjoy them the same way). One important aspect being meeting people, as others have mentioned. Sure, you meet them in Abyssea, too, but it tends to be quite different from a 6 person party (read: crowded) and relationships likely wont establish in the same amount as they used to.
I certainly can't imagine myself starting this game now, and leveling up the way most players do now. It does not seem fun, and yes, leveling up is part of a game like this, and should be... I daresay balanced! For the older players it is convenient fersure. We did it the old way, and I seriously am glad I did instead of starting now. It seems quite horrid, actually, and you probably wont see me suggesting this game to anyone unless they are really, really interested (but even so, a word of caution may be in place) and/or they have played the game before.
It's things like this that make me glad that I can level up my jobs perfectly fine (and relatively fast) by just myself using two characters (usually one is 'leeching' on the other). And no, I do not use 'windower' or any such 'enhancements' that are also known as 'cheats'. :b
I can also do anything I want to do now with just me, myself, and a friend or few. This does obviously not include Legion, and I can only defeat some of the very first 'tier' Voidwatched monsters, but I have no desire to do those so it matters not.
I don't play for the game, I play for the friend or few that are still left there.
The whole 'skipping the EXPing part' seems rather funny, because it reminds me of another game where I am a Gamemaster in, which was shut-down some time ago. For the final days, we would just do what ever the players wanted, and one of the most requested things was to be able to be of the maximum level because they never got to experience it (even though leveling up in that game was also very fast if done in a certain way). That game had/has a lot smaller community, very small, so it can't really be compared to FFXI at all in that sense, but it's like someone at the SqEX said that: "OK! Let's give them a fast way to level up and quick rewards to fool around with as which ever job they might want to within a short period of time before we pull-the-plug. Should be a fun ride, but just in case, let's add some Gargantuan time-sink and randomness as a bumper for those that complete it too fast!" So yeah, that would be sort of the same thing, but in a much larger scale.
While I say that I don't like the idea of 'skipping the EXPing part', I do agree that with 20 jobs, it does get old, and as stated, it is only the most fun for maybe the first few times. Nevertheless, I for one enjoyed joining my friends to level up another job if they happened to do that. It might be interesting if there was some sort of a bonus added for every job you leveled up to make the next one go faster?
Either way, I enjoyed feeling more powerful as I learned new job abilities and got access to better equipment, which sometimes could be a bit of a frustration due to either item availability or/and their price.
Now, all that can be skipped though not that it was always fun to find out the equipment you wanted came with a price-tag with too many numbers, or wasn't available at all. In a way this is a blessing as well, because such gear is even more non-existent than ever before.
In short(?), I think that new content should not make everything that was before completely obsolete because the old stuff will then just 'be there', taking space. There are so many things in the game, such as evoliths, monsters no one hunts any longer, pointless battlefields, that seem like a total waste of space and effort because of the production/direction\development decisions and altogether strengthens the image of a 'final ride'. Perhaps that's what the 'big plans' for the 10th anniversary is.
Ha! But I digress.
As for 'leeching' in events like Legion and whatnot, I don't really care if people in my group were to be not 'gear-swapping' and/or using the best or even average stuff they could be (whether it was for a 1% or 50% difference), because as I said, I don't play for the game. What is more important is that he/she\other does their best, and has fun while doing it!
If they're completely messing things up, or just doing nothing, well, then they shouldn't probably be there, if they are not willing to work for success but there has never been a time that I have been angry for someone messing up a fight in a way or another. It's really not that serious (for me). Again, it may mostly be due to the fact that I mainly played with my friends, only, but even on those occasions I did play/do play with strangers, I really don't care that much.
By playing alone and/or with a friend or few, I avoid all these problems so it's really not an issue to me. ^^;
In short(!), yes, leeching anything is rude if the leecher and leechee have not agreed upon it. If they have, however, I don't see a problem since that's what the developers made the game to be like and I doubt it's going to change. As mentioned, though, I don't agree it should be like this, and I don't do it myself (unless leeching on oneself counts).
There was one time when I was 'pulling' for a 'Fell Cleave' party with our Linkshell, for about 8 hours, with my other character idle. When I went to bed, I left myself there on another job so while I was indeed AFK and leeching at that point for I think 5 levels worth (from 73 to 78 I think), the 8 or so hours I was running around luring monsters about were more than adequate trade-off for that, I would think.
That's the only 'cleave' party I ever was in. After that, I've just used Dominion or other ways to level up me, myself, and my friends.
I never did quite understand getting levels without actually playing (e.g. 'botting' or leeching while totally AFK without any work put into it like in the example above) and that goes with other stuff too, like 'botting' for skills, fish, anything. I don't support paying Gil or whatever for it and then going AFK, either, but I wouldn't judge someone for doing it. I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, but the game allows it, and if that is their way to 'play', that's not my problem. ^^;
As a side-note, I wonder how people who 'worry' so much about how others play the game, and what they post around forums, can keep themselves going.
Doesn't it amount to a lot of frustration, headache, and hair pulled? :V
Wrote a lot.
Wrote a lot more actually but then I noticed I was writing a book about something pretty much irrelevant so it's the heavily cut edition now. >:Ð
Blubb ! !! !
[b]Edit:[b]
Added a little bit to the "In short(!)" section.