Possible level/story jumps....really?

[Voltyblast]

For the time being, instead of offering an item that boosts character levels, remove the requirement of having completed the 2.0 MSQ up to Steps of Faith. The moment that they reach level 50, let them start progressing through Heavensward content. And if they want to go back and finish the rest of the ARR MSQ, then they can do so at their leisure. And once the new expansion releases, they should remove the requirement of having to complete Final Steps of Faith in order to do the new expansions content once they reach level 60 (at least at some point). I think that's what quite a few folks want in the first place.

This. Instead of going for the jumping potion of whatever, just make the MSQ less mandatory or completely optional.

People who want to do the story will follow it like usual (because you want to follow it, right....?) and those who don't want to or don't like it will just play the game without being forced to follow years of story.

BUT WAIT, HOLD YOUR KEYBOARD.

I get it however, I get it: this is a Final Fantasy game, it's "supposed" to have a story, it's "supposed" to be epic, yadda yadda yadda, but let's face it: some people play this game for the gameplay, some people play mmorpgs for the gameplay and not for the story. And don't start compare RPGs with MMORPGs please. Some of the players may say that "this game might not be for them", however you won't get anywhere by being niche anymore or if you follow a certain group of people: Wildstar tried to follow the old school WoW raiders and make the content super hard and look what happened: it's on life support, despite being quite an amazing game in my opinion.
I'm not saying that FFXIV is doing bad but by simply making the story optional for those who don't care about the story, you'll get more players inside. More players, more dosh, more content. We all win.

Or else just enjoy your jumping potion and have a good day "shrugs".

No.

That would be giving RMT 100% easy access to ruin and infest HW content just like they do with ARR content.

Then ask SE to improve this situation: locking a zone behind a story just to help with the botting situation is a very poor excuse.