1 - Is the dislike of new players something that has been around for a while, or is it a new phenomenon?
* I very, very rarely see dislike of new players on my server or on Duty Finder. If there is any dislike, that's usually for a different reason. Players going in completely blind and not listening to what other people tell them, that's what usually gets people; some new players who are touchy about being "new" and think anyone trying to tell them what to do is an elitist.

2 - Was FFXIV always endgame heavy?
* I don't feel that it is endgame "heavy". It's just that when you reach endgame, it's a whole new ballgame for you. However, there are many things to do at various levels and I personally know people who level up crafters and gatherers first, or stay at a certain level just to chill out at the Gold Saucer.

3 - Are people generally rude in Duty Finder, or is this just the case because of the expansion and everyone rushing to endgame?
* People can be rude for any reason. New or old, Japanese or non-Japanese, elitist or so-called "non-elitists", expansion or no expansion. I'm happy to say that 90% of my duty finder runs go smoothly. However, the duty finder is completely random so there's no telling what kind of person you'll be partied with in the next run.