Azure.... I played ffxi for about 6 years. I've done tons of quests, most 30 times each. Very rare did a quest have a CS. I actually took time to explore the cities and talk to the npc. Even in the instances. There is more lore then you guys are letting on. Lore actually has almost nothing to do with the main story. Lore is the stage, setting, and the prequal. This game has alot more lore then you guys thing, just take a closer look for it. Pay attention to the smaller stiff to see the bigger picture.
Some lore people over look.

1 teleporting stresses out our bodies because moving alone the aether waves is a bit dangerous. Which is why we use anima to travel It is a fail safe that protects us.

2 The adventures guild and the various other guilds were set up after the sudden halt of the empire. The reason was to give everyone jobs or people would have something to do while keeping our skill up just incase the empire does continue its attack. The guildleves are cards that represent what job we are doing.