Well... starting out the first time around...tons of little exclamation marks everywhere, without much indication where to go or what to do exactly. I remember that clearly, it was kind of overwhelming. Especially together with the map that also needed discovering. Main scenario did a good thing leading me through that, though, as well as to some extent the class/job I wanted to play.

Honestly, if you follow those meteor signs (that is the main story markers), you can't really go wrong. The rest is optional, just do them whenever you're ready - the duty finder takesyour hand to guide you there with the ilvl requirements. Not saying it's completely accurate or reliable, but considering it won't let you do stuff below certain item levels at least gives you the goal to aim for. Soldiery is dropping all over the place, going from wherever you can with your AF gear (and then relic) just collecting that is easy to suit up to ~i100. Which then practically opens the doors for everything else too.

Really, it just is overwhelming, but not actually as big a chaos imo. ^^ And yes, you're pretty much carried through low-level stuff nowadays, but you can always try looking for people who are either doing them while leveling up or to spiritbond stuff (meaning they won't be overgeared).