I guess it's time

[Dorander]

I honestly can't understand when people say they just stand around with nothing to do. Maybe I'm just a completionist or something. Have you leveled every job to 60, including all hand and land jobs? Have you leveled your companion chocobo up to 20? Have you gotten a pedigree 9 chocobo through racing? Have you gotten every single old (read level 50) and new relic? There are things to do, and to keep you occupied. You just may not want to do them, and I get that. However, just because you wish to ignore content because it doesn't interest you doesn't mean you are out of things to do. So yes, take a break maybe you'll come back and find something that interests you.

[RyuSaarva]

do more than 1% of the content then you will be busy with the game.

[Morzy]

It doesnt bother me yet, but i agree. Ijust stand around, gather, hang with friends or work on my house.

[Lorielle]

I honestly can't understand when people say they just stand around with nothing to do. Maybe I'm just a completionist or something. Have you leveled every job to 60, including all hand and land jobs? Have you leveled your companion chocobo up to 20? Have you gotten a pedigree 9 chocobo through racing? Have you gotten every single old (read level 50) and new relic? There are things to do, and to keep you occupied. You just may not want to do them, and I get that. However, just because you wish to ignore content because it doesn't interest you doesn't mean you are out of things to do. So yes, take a break maybe you'll come back and find something that interests you.

While subjective, that sounds like just "Doing it just to do it" rather than "Content which is worthwhile"

[DamianFatale]

I think people are just acting salty until the next expansion is out. Honestly for the first expansion do you really think anything over the top and overly new is going to happen? No, its the first. You repeat the content style that you have, except you improve it. Going way out of the ordinary now is just too soon. I'm pretty sure the second will be about more unique conventions, but still the mechanics in 3.0 were really good, and improved compared to before. Some were even entirely different things. Give if time. Im anxious for it too!

[TankHunter678]

While subjective, that sounds like just "Doing it just to do it" rather than "Content which is worthwhile"

Then please specify what designates content "worthwhile".

Please designate what makes content "meaningful".

[Lorielle]

Then please specify what designates content "worthwhile".

Please designate what makes content "meaningful".

"While subjective"

It'd be pointless for me to even try to say what is worthwhile. I just don't like the hamster wheel that much personally.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

I've been playing for about a year, and while I'm not particularly burnt out and don't even really agree with most of the conclusions you've come to (or with the other sentiments that this was a lackluster patch),this is definitely something that I've seen affect more and more people as time goes on and the dev team oscillates back and forth between real innovation and digging their core systems deeper into the framework of the game.

I think all three possibilities behind the lack of evolution (so to speak) that you presented are true in some regard:
(1) The dev team is definitely small, and it's not hard to make a case for it being TOO small. I don't know about under-funded, though that's certainly a possibility (FFXIV has always come across as a bit of a Squenix after-thought, when it comes to things like merchandising and promotion), but they seem to have a legitimately limited pool of people to draw from. Not a whole lot of people out there are fluent in Japanese and have the sort of MMO development experience they need to achieve the balance/polish they want on release of content. I'd say it's probably a combination of high standards, low funding, and limited applicants.

(2) I think there's likely a BIT of awareness lacking - one has to wonder just how many staff members play the game and can view it through the eyes of your average everyday gamer - but this is a tricky matter. The dev team has regularly shown (even in the current patch series!) that they're willing to listen and apply concerns about the state of content; they did it with Midas, they did it with Weeping City, they're doing it with Diadem. But it's so much more complicated than just taking dissastisfaction expressed on a forum thread and applying it to the game, especially when you factor in the wide variety of reasons that keep people logging in, the differing priorities of regional players, the overall vision that they may have for the game, and the schedule and resources at the disposal of the dev team. If somebody wants a fundamentally different game, well, the dev team can perhaps be forgiven for not changing, with everything else on their plate. And then you have it compounded by how, right now, by every objective measure, this game is a huge success, and it might be hard for the dev team to agree that the "state of the game" is anything negative.

(3) Impossible to say, but confirmation bias definitely exists on all sides. I think it's just as tricky to say that everybody is universally satisfied with the game as it is to say that the game is in dire and obvious need of fixing. You've seen people quit, and so have I; I've also watched new people come into my Free Company, as well as IRL friends join independently, and fall in love with the game completely. Entire Companies have quit en masse, Gordias Savage all but killed the raid scene, and yet the game marched on and recovered; at the same time, the game has subscription momentum now, and I'm sure that some are logging in just for its own sake. I've spent time playing with friends and randoms who are gung-ho about content, even after playing since the beta. Among these, there are those who are fine with the game, as well as those who think it could use some switching up but are still happy with how it is (this is how I'd best describe myself, actually). The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

To answer your key question, though: you aren't the only one, but then, you and those like you aren't the only ones playing, and aren't even necessarily a majority. If the game is wearing you down, take a break; if that break doesn't work and the tricks the devs use to try and make all their content feel distinct have no effect even after coming back, then maybe the game has outlived its place in your life. Sad, but possibly true.

I hope you can find something to keep the game alive for you, and if not, I hope you find something that can bring you a new sense of fun and adventure somewhere else.
_____________________________________________________________________

Sidebar, but regarding story: the dev team is really up against a wall, here. Fact is, an MMORPG is not the ideal method for telling a story. If you make it too compulsory (or too story-heavy), then you run the risk of that alienating the people who play the game for other things; if you shift focus too far from it or make it too divorced from progression in the game, you run the risk of it being pointless and irrelevant. And so, we get something in the middle - a story that takes center stage, but which trims a lot of the fat that is traditionally used to really flesh out characters and narrative. I don't know if I'd call the whole thing a disappointment overall (except for maybe the DSW ultimately lacking the sense of sacrifice implied by Fortemps' narration in 3.1 and 3.2), but it certainly could use more meat. They really do seem to be getting better at storytelling, though, and they have one hell of a world to play with, so I'm relatively optimistic that this is as aspect that will continue improving as time goes on.

[Cakekizyy]

"While subjective"

It'd be pointless for me to even try to say what is worthwhile. I just don't like the hamster wheel that much personally.

MMOs are all about the hamster wheel. What did you expect?

[Dorander]

While subjective, that sounds like just "Doing it just to do it" rather than "Content which is worthwhile"

I actually quite enjoy/enjoyed doing all the things I mentioned. Plus I still log in daily and have a huge "to do" list, that seems to only be added to each content patch. I'm currently sitting on 140 + days of play time on this character alone, and I always have something to do and needs doing. All the content is worthwhile to me, though I suppose some, like yourself, find most of it dull and not worth doing.