Is there anything meaningful/gratifying to do in this game that's not MSQ?

[SenorPatty]

Hey John

I actually understand what you're going through. For me, having come off mmos where all you needed was to ding a certain level and then you'd have near instantaneous access to content of that lvl, playing this game's msq at times left me sour. Personally I find its kind of a double edged blade as sometimesn the story gets real good and I didn't mind and other times, I hated missing out on a roulette just because I hadn't progressed in the story far enough yet.

There is some good news....and it comes after you complete msq. Sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear but unfortunately, the entire game revolves around that. However, once you're done that, you'll find yourself with a very wide open schedule.

[Jeryhn]

(cont.)
But you are wrong to fault me for skipping the story when it functions in practice as a roadblock.

You're experiencing it as a roadblock because you are level 61 and in Shire gear, which means you bought a level skip potion and skimped on the story completion potion, which is weird since it seems you're trying to get to Stormblood content as fast as possible.

It feels unrewarding because you're not experiencing it as it was intended, as a level 50 character rebuilding their strength and reputation in the aftermath of the events of 2.5.

[Iscah]

You're experiencing it as a roadblock because you are level 61 and in Shire gear, which means you bought a level skip potion and skimped on the story completion potion

Not necessarily - if you start on a preferred world you get silver feather tokens that you can trade for Shire gear at the Calamity Salvager, prior to having story access to Idyllshire.

I think he’d be more than Lv61 on quest EXP by this point if he bought a level skip.

[Khalithar]

Well OP, not I or anyone else can tell you what is worth your time and effort. Maybe you'll like PVP, maybe you'll like savage mode raiding, maybe you'll like spending all day racing and breeding chocobos in the gold saucer, maybe you'll like mount farming or achievement hunting, maybe you'll like sitting in one zone all day fishing, etc. This game does have a lot of side content and some fairly deep system to explore but it's never really forced on you nor are you really directed to try it out. It's all just kind of there for you to take or leave at your discretion.