Option to unlock content without mandatory MSQ

[dangadget]

I have seen this over and over as an answer. But let's not forget XI didn't lock everything behind the base game and all expacs and it was still a FF game, with a very good story to boot.

The problem here is that linking every single expansion has created way to much fodder to get through to get to what you want to do. Just because you prefer the story does not mean everyone on earth or even every FF fan does, as you claim. Yes FF is known for story, but "I prefer the story and its a FF game so this idea is stupid" is completely irrelevant and saying "every ff fan plays it for the story" is just plain ill informed.

Locking content behind a base game plus 3 expansions worth of story and fetch quests does not bode well for the game's longevity. How many people start and quit due to the massive quest log they need to trudge through because paying for the game plus a story booster plus a sub plus a possible level booster is a lot to ask of someone who may or may not like what it has to offer. Our community could be much larger if they did away with the burden or story telling, and yes for many new players the story is a burden more than anything and its getting to be moreso with each passing expansion. Especially since old content is rendered irrelevant the moment the next patch comes out, much less the next expansion.

Fan boying and white knighting is always, always more detrimental than helpful. You need to look at this realistically. If you LOVE this game as much as you claim, you will want it to live on for a long long time. And the direction this game is headed, its going to be harder and harder to keep the population at a reasonable level. Things need to change if we want another 10 years of FFXIV.

And yet this statement and this sentiment is not actually supported by any existing facts.
The game is healthy, in fact, it's the most successful it's ever been, and this with the MSQ "locked" away, which by the way, ad nauseum, it is not.
You can absolutely skip most of it if you choose to do so, but when you do, you pay a price, both literally and figuratively.
There is nothing that indicates that this approach is hurting the game in any way.