Character development was sorta missing from the storyline. If you are interested in some in-game story that has a bit of character development i recommend some of the crafting class quests. They don't last long, but they have a bit more feeling than the main story.

I wish everyone could have played 1.0 for the storyline ... if you liked ffxi's story, then you would have loved how in-depth the 1.0 story was and where it was going. There are some nice 1.0 youtube videos on all the story CS's ... you miss out on the feel of the quests and fights along the way, but if you want some good story and about 90% of what this game's story is based on you should go check it out ... just type ffxiv all cs in youtube ... 1.0 will come up since i don't think people really care to record 2.0's just yet. ;p