The curve is already too fast if you ask me. Now it'll be even faster, and you don't have to do shit.
Big deal. How long does it really take to learn a specific class's approach to their intended roll?

I'd much rather a brief leveling experience -- enough to show how a class/job functions. Anything beyond the basics are specialized tactics for specific encounters. If someone chooses to be PLd to cap and is truly iconpetent at their role in a battle because of it, that will show quickly and the community will reject them till they get better.

Materia will be a whole additional layer to the leveling process anyway. I say let folks get to cap with relative ease and make a gaming experience that's enjoyable for everyone. How someone gets to cap affects no one but themselves. Someone who spent months grinding XI style has the potential to be just as crappy of a player as they were day one.

Gamers are smart enough to know how things work. Even in XI, tanks tanked, DDs dealt damage, and healers healed. A competent player had that down by the time they got to Qufim. Everything after that was a semi-afk risk free nuisance. People keep claiming a long road to cap is necessary to "learn your job," but no one can explain to me how anything after a few weeks contributes to making a player better that couldn't be accomplished in applying their abilities in fun battles and other types of content.

It could be argued that we need to learn each ability as we get it, but does that mean when jobs are released we should all go back to level 1 to grind for months to learn what the new abilities do? I think it'd be tough for anyone to find people who would say yes to that.

I still think this is fine. It's putting the choice in the hands of the player. I for one will prefer not to be PLd, but I won't chastise those who choose to. I'll give every player the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing events. Simply because raptor genocide doesn't teach a damn thing once someone has the basics down.