The story wasn't that bad, it is just building up for the new expansion. And those quests were done not all at once before the HW was released. Kind of like we are doing MSQ now, a bit at a time with each patch, but the players coming for the 2nd expansion will have to do them in a row. And there might be 100 of those again. There are no 'poor design choices', you follow the story, you get into the new content which unlocks more new things. Just because you have to do it this way, because you are a new player, and are not happy with it, doesn't mean that they should remove it. I think the story is great and that people should experience it and see what the game is about. Plus, MSQ you need to do only once. And as you will be leveling your new job, trust me, you will miss MSQ as you begin grinding FATEs and dungeons (or sidequests, if you are that masochistic).