I can relate with the OP, although I've had kids and a job back in the days and I still have them now, I always preferred the old way of lvling even if it was alot slower then it is now. And you'll never be able to convince people about your point but you're not the only one who prefers it and i know other people who agree. Dont get me wrong its not like i hate the post abyssea content, i like the mechanics in abyssea to acquire items and the proccing etc, but I just dont like the lvling and I've been very stubborn about this since I havent burned any of my jobs. In my eyes I dont see the sense in playing a game where I go from 1 to 99 in a matter of days, I feel there should be a feeling of progression, I want to experiment with newly obtained ja/ws/magic in my own pace, I dont want to read about it on wiki. It has nothing to do with nostalgia though, its more of a reason why people want to play, I want to work towards a goal and I want every step on that road to be a step that matters how silly that may sound.
Life already is enough of a rush, I dont want it on here.