Does anyone actually enjoy guildleves?

[Altano]

The lesser of two evils isn't the best approach when there are third, fourth, and fifth options which are better.

I had thought your suggestion of 100% horizontal content was tongue-in-cheek. Apparently not. Why there is and will almost certainly always be a grind in FFXIV is first and foremost that a level system provides a goal for players, a trajectory for their in-game efforts. Not to mention a way to gauge enemies based upon (presumed) player experience and overall strength, thus providing the structure for a balanced combat system.

So let's address your 3, 4, and 5, which you claim are "better" alternatives. I think #3 is the most viable option, unless you're including "objective"-based quests that have jack to do with actually playing as the job. I don't know exactly what you're suggesting there, but if it isn't appropriately related to what a job does (as many campaign ops in FFXI weren't, for example), then it shouldn't be the primary source of SP for a job. If it is, then I welcome your suggestions, but make them in concrete terms, rather than floating some abstract claim that you have a better idea. Let's hear it.

Number 4 - a little bit of a grind is heading a lot down the wrong road, for a number of reasons. First, the grind itself functions as a dual-purpose time sink: it gives the players something to do when they don't have time for some of the more intense content (which admittedly, is yet to come) and it also gives the developers time to, you know, develop while the players continue playing. Now you can disapprove of the forced time sink, but it's the nature of the beast in any RPG, and MMOs certainly not the least. Moreover, if you're talking of these sidequests/leves/"self-motivated content" (a vague-sounding term) as "supplements," then you're acknowledging the necessary primacy of the grind, making it more than just "a little bit." Lastly, you make the assumption that players feel "pressured" into doing leves because it is the most efficient use of time. Be that as it may, players will always look for the most efficient use of time when it comes to advancing their character. If the other activities are supplementary, then they'll not be turned to for the purposes of efficient time use. Nobody is forcing you to do the leves; they're just the grind with more concrete rewards.

Finally, #5, a matter of taste though it may be, seems horrible to me. It is just asking for an elitist mindset. "Oh...your Gladiator doesn't have XYZ weaponskill fully leveled yet? We need it for battle regimen, noob." This suggestion calls to mind the materia system from FFVII introduced on a large scale, and the potential for exclusion based on not having certain abilities up to somebody elses' expectations is enormous. Call me a cynic, but I see that happening right away under this model. And if that wasn't enough of a problem, the idea of "endgame starts at day one" takes whatever hope we had for a carrot to reach for out of the game. But maybe that is just a matter of taste.