I've had around 12yrs of MMORPG experience, which includes burnouts and borderline addiction that would lead to academic problems. At least 6 of those years involved FFXI primarily from launch, and occasionally other MMORPGs played alongside (like WoW). Over the years, I've grown and matured my train of thought, particularly when I started interacting more with those that are not within my immediate circle with these games. So I think I have some grounds to speak on the matter.

A couple things often influence my own views on things, including liking or disliking a game. Certain events may have happened that sours your experience, which doesn't involve genre but specifically title. You may have just grown out of the genre or even grown a degree of impatience towards things that you once had said patience for. The fact you point out that it feels a lot longer to level, and even give the "somewhat" exaggerated example of "dungeon, dungeon, fate, fate, leve leve leve, dungeon..." sort of raises that flag.

Then there's the possibility that the game just isn't for you on the long-term. I don't care for games like Elder Scrolls. I tried to like Morrowind and Skyrim but... I just can't get into it. I tried playing it for a couple hours but the interest just isn't there. It's a series full of lore, freedom, and possibility but... it's not for me.

You know what really keeps me connected to a game these days? It's not the rewards for doing things, though they are nice. It's the people and how the game chooses to bank on that. Housing is something that many modern MMORPGs still don't have. Heck, even a game like WoW is only now working on releasing something similar to it (though I guess you could argue the farm in MoP was the actual first attempt). It's what the game does to connect the people to the world. I don't care very much about endgame, 6yrs of FFXI from launch and 6 years of WoW shortly after launch kinda did me in on the burnout of it. I love to do things with friends on these games. Be it dungeons, exploration, leveling, raids, etc. If it weren't for that, these games don't last long for me... maybe several months to a year.

My time with this genre has sort of gone full circle. I went from being an online newbie back in 2002 > being amazed at gaming reaching the point of "modern high graphics" MMORPGs like FFXI > wanting to explore and make friends > dungeons > hardcore raiding > burnout > casual play > realizing the least stressful and most enjoyable period was the earlier stages prior to hardcore raiding. It's really about enjoying the little things. Maybe people have to grow older and maybe experience the burnout for themselves, but with age comes wisdom, and some of us came to realize that even if that burnout did happen, many people don't realize what went wrong.

So for you OP, in spite of my rambling, I'd probably spend a minute or two trying to think of why you would want to play the game and what you are hoping to get out of it. I'm here for the longhaul because of a lot of old friends playing and to experience the little things that the game has to offer currently, as well as in the future. And believe me, this game has MUCH to offer on that regard.