While it did slow down in a couple of spots, I didn't mind the 1 to 50 journey, ending with The Praetorium.
The 100 quest slog(2.1 - 2.55), and I call it that because that's how it felt for the most part, had me questioning whether I would continue beyond the month that came with the purchase of the game.
Way too much time filler pushed in for what could easily be reduced to 5 missions max.
If I were the head of the studio, I would of allowed the player the choice of heading up to the gates of Ishgard after finishing Praetorium, with a pop up pointing them to the inn so they could watch the relevant plot changes to that point, and do the same with HW, allowing players to progress to SB after finishing Aetherochemical Research.
But eh, they couldn't sell the skip potions then. :P