When I first started my character (a couple days before 1.18) it took me 2 1/2 weeks to get my first 50. This was when necrologos and the like were nerfed, honestly it didn't take that long to rank up before, and powerleveling was still possible (very quick 1-30).

Regardless of how quick it is to level up now, the real grind is the materia system. Think of it as meriting, I know I spent countless hours meriting my jobs in FFXI and just like now, you're nothing without them. I foresee a quickfix in 1.19a for the PL system anyways, so meh.