Oh really? THIS again?
Yes, you do have to go through the story because Ishgard doesnt allow strangers - and you are one right now - inside its mighty halls. There is a lore-reason thats keeping you outside of Ishgard and I'm glad they're taking the lore and the story serious. Granted there are a few quests that have to be considered filler (really, Tataru? Tea?) but after all the game is telling you a story - if you dont enjoy that: Yes, it might be better if you just quit.

Can someone at this point please explain to me why people are soooo excited to go into the HW-areas but dont seem to care about the story or the game at all? Like really, do you only want to go to idleshire to cap your respective tomes for a week and farm the new EX-primals for their mounts? Is THAT really what makes the game fun for you? If you want a grind cant you go play... farmville or however those games are called?