A second example would be play through SWToR without doing story (god that would be painful). A lockout I can also think about that evolves classes is Death Knight from WoW (while I understand that they got rid of the reqs. to get them now). I'm not saying it is good design, I think the biggest argument is over the jobs and less so the story (which is fantastic and is a large part of the game). Not every mmo should be the same and this one has a solid progressive overarching story that is only good if seen form start to finish. Is it a bit long winded? Sure but the the title FF kinda comes with that. Is the end game great and a god goal to get to? Yes, for the most part no one will say otherwise. As of late however people/mmo players care less and less about the journey of getting to max level and loving the lore and side quests and are more about lets get to the end of the content... and wait for new content. If that is how you want to play good for you, but instead of focusing on just "getting" to end game why not have fun with the characters and story, new mechs and epic bosses, and the overall leveling experience. That's just my two cents and if just getting to the end is your only reason to play maybe you should find a new hobby. Maybe speed running?