Low level content is incredibly important to retaining players. One of the reasons so many people quit is because they had nothing to do at low levels. While many people on this forum seem content to grind as "content" and as a character experience, the vast majority of MMO players are not content with that and want to have more engaging adventures and things that make the game an actual Final Fantasy experience.

So to answer your question low level content isn't really all that important right now, but once 2.0 hits it will become incredibly important - if not the most important content aspect of 2.0.