Well to answer the question of "What do you do?":

If I'm currently interested in another game (console gamer) or have some class work to do, I'll behest when it comes around and at least make SOME progress.

When I'm sitting down specifically to play FFXIV I can choose to craft, gather or rank up combat. I have plans of getting everything up there eventually so no matter what I feel like I'm making some kind of progress. My LS is fairly active though so there's usually something going on. R40 leve groups come up so I can work on getting my Pugilist up to 50, we have crafting fairs to help people get outfitted properly or get materials they need for various crafts, we're starting to get ready for the few NM fights and subsequent gear that we'll need to make/distribute.

There's a lot to do in the game but if you don't enjoy any of the base systems then it's probably not for you. The game is about to undergo some drastic changes but I don't know if it will change enough to sway people who just don't like it.