I'm sorry but it doesn't take that long to get from ARR to HW if you skip all the cutscenes... and from the sounds of your complaining and lack of care for the story is EXACTLY what you would do anyway. Most of my FC mates who joined the game for HW got through ARR in no time at all. Yes the ones who enjoyed story took a bit longer because they watched and read everything...

I also don't see it as there being no reward, you should gain several levels before reaching HW which is a huge benefit seeing as you can't do the first HW dungeons until you're 51... that grind from 50-51 without story is difficult and tedious. Not to mention to me the story is a huge reward, I love the story.

If you don't like the story or the game why are you playing? The people who care about story will stay even if they have to do the quests... so despite what you say SE will retain countless players.

I have only seen complaining about this issue on the forums. I may only have 60 or so people in my FC but of those who have had to complete the quests to get the HW none of them were so angry that they needed to come to the forums to make another thread about this. The ones who didn't like story complained but they got in done in less than a few days....

Once you get to 50 you have so much to do I would think story is the least of your worries.. you have to unlock all the level 50 dungeons and get cross classes so forth...