Well, I suppose the "leveling shouldn't be too easy" and "n00b just get an xp party" "arguments" are to be expected from long time FFXI players (I know, I am one myself), but remember we're trying to make this MMO successful in the general market, not just for people who emigrated from FFXI.

Leveling is not an accomplishment. It's the expected result. You could theoretically get to level 50 by using the South Park method of beating on level 1 critters 24 hours a day. The game shouldn't act as if it is an accomplishment. It's a means to an end. There should be content along the way to keep it interesting, but what keeps players on a game for years is not leveling grind, but content, especially endgame content.

Not to mention, the stated goal by both the former team and the new management has been to allow people to play how they want to play. Yes, XP parties are fast, but they are also terribly boring for a lot of people. Feel free to go to any other game's forums and look to see if they're asking for more mindless grind. FFXIV parties aren't as bad as FFXI parties in requiring you to stay for unreasonable amounts of time to not get blacklisted by the party members, but they still last too long.

People should be able to level in a reasonable amount of time playing solo if they so choose, especially considering that there is not a single level curve to 50 like most MMOs, but many as you level diffferent classes. The curve should, if anything, be shorter than it is in other MMOs to reflect this, since endgame groups often expect you to have multiple classes to a high level to be able to function at the level they expect.

Yes, there's a problem with fights being overly difficult for people starting out who are just learning the system and need better gear, but it's not the main problem. I know how my classes operate and I have good gear for them, but it still takes multiple times longer for me to level a lower level class that's considered a "prereq" for me to even play my preferred class than it would take to just level a fully functioning class in any other MMO. This isn't a good model, and the game mustn't force people to play in XP parties just to avoid the overly slow solo curve.