When does the "main story bus" stop rolling?

This is going to be more brief than I prefer, but: 1000 characters.

Simply put, does there come a point where the story quest lets you go do something else for a full level or two, or is it pretty much an unbroken (within a single level) chain to 50? I have a friend that is "afraid" of doing anything else with friends for fear of getting "behind" in her story quest. She'll never finish it (she wouldn't want to waste time on something non-logistically relevant) if she discovers she's 3 levels behind it at some point, but would like to be able to play with her friends in between story quest catch-up sessions. Until Buscarron, she never saw the "red meteor of go-level-up," and she was so happy when she did.

So, does it "slow down," and if so, when?

Thank you in advance for all non-patronizing responses. :)

Edit: Bonus question! After the grand company, are there any more "features" unlocked specifically by the story? Dungeons don't count, we're not hinged on having ALL the dungeons unlocked. We're also not endgame raid-progression minded, so hardmode primals aren't really "a feature" to us. I'm asking because she's contemplating just ditching the story quest forever.

the main story stop briefly between the levels 46 to 49 in which there is no story mission for these levels

There is...it's in the Waking Sands...there are like, 3-4 quest givers inside for lv46 - lv49.

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Originally Posted by WhoIsTheGuest

There is...it's in the Waking Sands...there are like, 3-4 quest givers inside for lv46 - lv49.

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This is true but in but these are side quests and have nothing to do with the main story.

in terms of the main story there is a jump in the story quests from 46 to 49 where you are put in an 8 man trial fight.

You get to see the credits after you complete a main story dungeon at 50. Also, the storyline is neat and I think you need to complete the main story to get advanced ranks in your GC.

The story doesn't end when you complete the story. I still have meteor quests.

Does the game ever end? Or will Square always add new quests and events?

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Originally Posted by Linky97

Does the game ever end? Or will Square always add new quests and events?

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It's an MMO....it better not end for like 10 years or more. I am interested in all the end games stuff coming up as I am only level 42 going on 43 now but I hear alot of the end game stuff is kind of clunky and all over the place so we shall see.

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Originally Posted by Mikedizzy

It's an MMO....it better not end for like 10 years or more. I am interested in all the end games stuff coming up as I am only level 42 going on 43 now but I hear alot of the end game stuff is kind of clunky and all over the place so we shall see.

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Well... This is my first MMO so i don't know :/

I just hit this level 46 part of the storyline. Finished and it says to come back and talk to Minfilia @ level 49....

I thought it was some kind of sick joke... now I realize how horrible it's going to be leveling 47-49 just to do this damned quest.... ugh.

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Originally Posted by Hurtzfield

I just hit this level 46 part of the storyline. Finished and it says to come back and talk to Minfilia @ level 49....

I thought it was some kind of sick joke... now I realize how horrible it's going to be leveling 47-49 just to do this damned quest.... ugh.

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The quests are enough to bring you up to level 48, around 50%. I recommend spending an hour in Northern Thanalan for FATE grind. This place can yield up to 200k-250k exp per hour.