You can sit there and have your character powerleveled to almost 50.

You can press one button 1000's of times to level your craft to 50.

Has SE given up?

Think of a single-player RPG whose combat and leveling experience was so enjoyable, you actually craved more! Think of how satisfying it was to gain a level and have access to more powerful abilities, spells, equipment. Think of what drove you to attain more for your character.

This type of experience is completely lacking in FFXIV and instead of fixing it with superior gameplay, SE has simply thrown in the towel. They've decided to simply make leveling a stupid easy no thought required process which is only a means to an end. In doing so they have sucked the life out of the RPG experience, which is to grow your character and gain satisfaction from doing so - to take your character on a journey.

There are no journeys in FFXIV, only destinations.