The skips are predatory. When they were made, there were other options available. One option could be to shorten the story quest or offer in-game skip(WoW does this sometimes). Another option is to give players all of the unlockables from the story quest, and offer alternate means of leveling. But no, the choice was made, after the numerous complaints the devs must have received, of how long the msq is, they chose to capitalize on the players complaints.

"If you feel forced then you might want to rethink the mmo scene". Can you explain how this unique problem to FFXIV would lead you to this conclusion?