New Jobs Gated Behind Completion of 2.0 Story?

[Namasu]

As a new player myself - I will say that I felt completely rushed leveled through the dungeons.....
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The story is absolutely dull and boring

That's your opinion and fine but...

However, having to pretty much "skip" through all the quests just to get to the ones you want to do isn't fun.

Why bother continuing if it isn't fun for you? You already deemed the story boring and dull so why do you have an issue with skipping through quests to catch up with your friend?

You want to play a game because your friends play it, however if your going to have to play for 14 hours a day for days trying to play unfun "catch up" your not going to sell your game.

You made the decision to play the gotta-go-fast-rush-and-catch-up-to-everyone mode which isn't really how FF14 is intended to be play for people new to the game, genre or the franchise itself.

You say you have to "work" for it, but why work for it when I can work in real life and get payed for it? Why should I give people money to work?

The game is an RPG that heavily emphasizes player progression. You have to follow the order to a good extent. If you feel like the game is making you do such laborious "work" then the game is probably not for you and you should convince your friend(s) to play something else that you all can enjoy.