MSQ

[Vidu]

Again, there’s just as much focus on the lore in other mmos. The developers just aren’t self absorbed and don’t force it on you. I suggest you actually play other mmos before trying to compare them with how much lore they have or how “focused” they are.

I'm sorry if I worded my post badly, but to me it seems like you missed my point - you're still using this negative expression about the story/lore being "forced on you" when you talk about the story. I can only assume that what you mean by that includes things like the heavy story-locks we have and maybe even that lore is expanded on during the MSQ (and not just hidden in the lorebooks or similar).
But here is the thing: thats what Final Fantasy is about. Its mainly about being told a story, so its no surprise that this MMO is also saying "Hey, great you're here to listen to this epic story I want to tell you!"

I'm not trying to compare how much lore this game has to others (as in quantity or quality), I'm just trying to compare how much of a "spotlight" the game shines on its lore. By your account, FFXIV does this more (and going by your expression to much for your taste) than others - but thats excatly what some people want! They want all this lore and story presented to them while going through the game. They want it "forced" on them, because it doesnt feel forced to them.
I'm here because I want to enjoy a Final Fantasy story, so it doesnt feel forced onto me because thats what I want from this game. And I'm happy that everything is strongly connected to this mainstory. I'm happy that when I visit a dungeon I know excatly why I'm at this place right now, what history it has and what role it plays for the current story because I was told all that by an NPC in a bunch of textboxes giving me that background instead of just telling me "Go get item X out of the dungeon".

Focussing on getting the story and lore across to the player is what Final Fantasy does - I'm sorry if it feels to you as if its being forced onto you. You seem to prefer to just have the lore somewhat in the game without it being presented to you in a clear way while you play through the story? Thats okay, it appears there are many games who do that just fine! But Final Fantasy isnt that. Its always been about "shoving the story in your face" - and thats what people like and mean whan they say this game has a story-focus. You can like that or not, but please understand that people who say dont mean that there is no lore/story at all in other games. They're just saying they prefer the way its presented to them in FFXIV. By them being "forced" to see and play through it.