Some of that stuff was horrible even back then... shouting for a WHM to raise was never fun and neither was wasting hours looking for a group or the trains in Crawler's Nest. There's a difference between "a funny memory" and "a funny memory that I don't want to have to deal with again".

Take it slowly if you want, burn through levels if you want. Not everyone plays for the same thing. When the storyline is better paced and there are things to do (including level-capped content and level sync) on both ends of the spectrum, there would be less of a desire to rush through.

I've already made more than enough memories playing this game so it's up to the player.