Long post, TL;DR at the bottom.

Now, don't get me wrong from the start. I'm not saying it's going to become some mindless slur of players rushing ahead for endgame content / PvP and nothing else, nor am I trying to advocate an FFXI-2. Obviously the FF aesthetic will be there, as they've been showing us bits and pieces of what they have planned. It looks nice. Story seems to be there as well, naturally, as it's a part of their goal to make Eorzea come to life.

However, coming from FFXI, all this focus on westernizing the game brings up the question of whether or not they're doing to depart from a story-centric style of gameplay. FFXI's story arcs were hands down one of the most powerful experiences I've had in gaming. An MMORPG is just an amazing medium for immersed story telling, since you're playing your own character, and not some one elses. It's what set FFXI out from all other MMORPGs to me, and made it worth playing. It wasn't just another mindless grind to the top for raids and PvP. I felt connected to the world, and it was a real challenge to save it - purely from a gameplay point of view. The storytelling on top of that via cutscenes and dialogue just tied to the experience together.

The missions were a driving force behind accessing endgame content, and difficult to defeat in their own right. It gave those endgame junkies a challenge in order to unlock the real challenge (Though in reality, some of the missions were more difficult than some endgame encounters). Yet it seems like they're drifting away from that idea, and instead allowing players ease of access. A streamlined route to endgame. Maybe it's just me, though.

Is anyone else concerned that we might lose the idea of powerful storytelling in the game with 2.0? Part of the original appeal of FFXIV for me from the start was the fact that it had that storytelling just like FFXI. I had played it's predecessor more for the story than anything, and FFXIV was shaping up to be the same. Yet now it looks as though the focus might shift more to a modern MMO - with story being on the back burner and something you can just blow through carelessly to get to the actual "game content". Perhaps it's my fault for coming into the game with the mindset of it's story content being similiar to FFXI's. That I wouldn't be able to just solo through 100% of the storyline, and would have to form groups with my allies in order to conquer difficult missions.

Spending days trying to defeat an extremely difficult encounter, and to finally be rewarded with an amazing cutscene that pushes the story even further when you succeed, reavling some mind-blowing twist or revelation to the plot. Being rewarded with powerful items, or even access to endgame content. The emotion tied with defeating that difficult encounter with my friends was just enhanced three-fold alongside the story. To me that isn't just FFXI - but Final Fantasy in general. The only difference with FFXI was that it was my character, and my friends. Not a pre-made party.

TL;DR - Hoping they provide a challenging story for us to play through. Making it really feel like you're saving the world with your friends and allies (or whatever the end of that story arc is). Not story arcs we can just solo in an afternoon, like we have now.