Battle Content...what Battle Content?

[Tsukino_Kaji]

I don't learn how to play my job, I don't learn how to work well with others...

This hasn't changed, people burning jobs up and not knowing how to play them. Just the form of XP has. On the otehr hand, you're second statement is most true. The current system has been breeding a bad community with poor ethics.

The entire game feels deserted. Whitegate is a dead zone. (Trust me this is difficult when your main is a blue mage.)

WG being empty is in no way, shape or form deprimental to blue mage.

I feel like GoV has completely destroyed the levelling experience into a fast (but stupid) grind.

You're wrong, it's not GoV's fault. It was abyssea that ushered this in.