I'll have to wait for FFXIV's quests with cutscenes to really be able to know for certain how enjoyable it is, but I will say that I hope that we will be forced into partying at some point if they really want to keep us playing. I love having the option of solo play, but if someone who doesn't know anyone in-game already joins and plays solo all the way through to L50 and then wonders what about this game is supposed to be enjoyable, they're doing it wrong and will probably leave anyway. Being forced into partying up is, for me, what makes MMOs great. The moment you start socialising is the moment that suddenly the MMO world becomes a great thing.

That said, questing with groups can often end up benefiting the few people who get their quests done, and I agree that being herded around like cattle from point A to point B to point C can be very annoying after a while. I adore exploration, I adore socialising, I adore being able to sit with a great group of people in one spot for a long period of time just fighting and talking about whatever together. The best times I had in FFXIV 1.x were grinding as it was where I met almost all the friends I gained through FFXIV. People doing quests are prone to leaving once their quests are done and also prone to focusing more on the quest than on the socialising. I find it better when grinding as everyone focuses on fighting initially but over time as the group 'melds', people get more and more social.

I'm sure there will still be great grinding groups in FFXIV 1.x, however I hope that they aren't few and far between due to experience being too poor. I think people should be able to enjoy open world mob grinding parties and quest grinding parties equally and with equal benefit. Yes, make quests give you more exp, but only enough to counter the time it takes to run between all the different points.