Let's Talk About the Awesome Quality of Side Stories in this Game (Minor Spoilers)
Since a troll thread was thrown out there of course bad-mouthing every single thing possible in the game, I figured let's balance it with a more honest assessment :)
I LOVE the side stories in FFXIV. They're varied in style, and I love how they find ways to link some of them together in unexpected ways that makes you smile when you realize the connections and callbacks. My favorite so far has been the side quest in Sharlayan to find the rogue Carbuncle and the realization that it's Tataru's from a loooong time ago that she thought was a failure. Instead it turns out she created one of the strongest carbuncles ever (able to survive without the direct connection to its summoner).
Then you have things like the role quests. Each one has a distinct theme, AND they contribute significantly to world-building to boot. (Anyone raising their eyebrows about how the same people complain the Hildibrand relic idea wouldn't be world-building, but then complain that the role quests ARE world-building?) And by separating them by role instead of each individual class, it's much more accessible to a wider population who doesn't have the time to level each and every class, but can at least get one of each type going. They still experience the full story.
Then there's things like Hildibrand. Pure fun. Silly comic relief that doesn't pretend to be anything but silly comic relief. A breath of fresh air that I think we all need when playing a game.
The effort they put into even the small side-quests at the hubs and give them meaning is impressive.