I've said this in another thread but it just doesn't seem to occur to people who make these kinds of threads.

The rate of exp is the result of a complex situation that began with the release of a faulty shell of a game in 2010.

After the disastrous release, Yoshida and crew decided the only way to really fix this game was to design a new engine and server structure. But at the same time Square Enix didn't want to shut down one of their flagship titles in fear of losing what player base it already had. So they made a promise: stick around and we'll make things right.

So for a year, all people did was level, as that's all there was. Now SE is ready to deliver some content, but resources for 1.x are limited. With this in mind, they made the decision to focus on level capped content while recycling identical content for low and mid levels.

This is the reason why they had to make it so easy to level. They're designing content which will be wiped away in the next year, but want as many people to pay subscriptions as possible -- including those who may have not yet started. But what's the point in trying to get to play content designed for capped characters that is going away in less than a year if it takes three to six months or more to even get to cap?

Pretending XIV is like any other MMO is silly. They have to design to keep happy both new players and those with multiple level 50 classes to keep them all around long enough to keep chasing the 2.0 carrot on that year-long stick.

An arduous, lengthy leveling process won't add anything for those who spent the past year leveling everything they care to. It will only serve to deter those who have yet to start from trying the game prior to the release of 2.0.