To preface, i started on this game back in 2010, so am not new... but i recently decided to roll a new character to go through the Main Story again.

There are certainly a large number of filler quests in the 2.x main quest line, which has been talked about at length. What really strikes me though, in going back to this, is how much EXP grinding is still necessary to reach 50. Not even Heavensward particularly, but just getting to Level 50.

Now sure, i get that this game has EXP levels at all, so it's supposed to 'take some work'.... With the Armory system though especially, which encourages players to level multiple roles, that first role should not require any extra work. Especially being that 2.x is not even the current expansion...

A new player should be able to walk into the game, and go Lv 1-50 on their first job based solely on the EXP gained from MSQ and the required dungeons. NOTHING else should be necessary. No hunting books, no roulette, no side quests, NOTHING. For the first role, just MSQ. Additional roles? Sure, fine. But not the first role for a new player.