I would like to point out while FFXI didnt have dynamis and stuff at launch but it did have a lot of other stuff NM's were in the game you had garrisons and delivery quests, you had stuff like bloodtear and steelfleece (the then equivalent to HNM) there was no bold claim that the game STARTS at 50, getting to 50 was part of the adventure. I played during the original Japanese beta and from the japanese retail on and I dont remember running out of content to do even after the first year of service (still have the crackler firework for that 1 year anniversery).