Mahjong is the most depressing mini game you've added to XIV

[Adrestia]

The issue is the process can be exponentially longer thanks to rating being back further and further to the point it seems impossible given the length of games and luck required, as such the goal is kicked further and further away from you with no way of reset from where you started.

So work at it and get better? The concept behind an MMR system is that you will gain or lose points until you’re matched with people of equal skill (which does take time; as was noted above, starting at 1500 creates a cluster of all players together until they’re stratified). So if you’re not good at the game, your rank goes down. You practice against people similar to you, and as you learn, your rank goes up. A 50.00001% win rate will increase your rank, albeit slowly.