The linear storyline is, unfortunately, not a great model for a MMO.

Think of it like a TV series - let's go with Game of Thrones. You've started to hear about this show. Your friends are into it. You'd like to start watching with them. Problem is, the show's in its sixth season. That's a lot to get caught up on! Given your busy schedule, you'll be lucky if you get current before the series ends in a couple years. So, instead, you read a few summaries, get caught up on the plot, and you're good to go. Maybe not the optimal Game of Thrones experience, but you're satisfied.

FFXIV doesn't offer that luxury. If you want to play with your friends, you've gotta watch every episode. I can certainly understand why that would be frustrating for a lot of people - and why it would turn a lot of people off of the game entirely.

It is better for a MMO to have independent storylines introduced with each expansion, rather than have each expansion continue a single, central storyline. Players should be free to pick and choose what order to complete these storylines in, and even the freedom to ignore some of the storylines entirely if they're simply not interested.

And if the decision is made to have a single storyline that continues from expansion to expansion... then yes, I'm sorry, but SOME method is going to need to be introduced to allow new players to just get a summary of what has come before. It's a bitter pill to swallow, and I don't like it myself, but an MMO NEEDS the lifeblood that new players provide. It's a pretty niche portion of new players that will be willing to tolerate six expansions worth of Main Scenario quests just to start participating in the latest content. If too many potential new players are turned off by the sheer amount of story they need to get through, it's going to drive the game into an early grave.

None of what I've said has anything to do with level boosting potions, however. That, I think, is totally unnecessary, and possibly even harmful. The time it takes to level a job is ridiculously short, and it's better for players to learn their abilities a few at a time, rather than have them all dumped into their laps at once.