I thought only Ishgard had restricted access? I'm pretty sure you can just go to the new zones on foot if you wanted to. (Floating continents are different of course lol)

And I think it's pretty cool that they catered to people who care about story. This is one of the few story-driven mmos, and if you care and like the story, then you're surely to enjoy what 2.1-2.5 has to offer. If you don't, then you just have to accept that it does for other people.