Where to Start?

[SannaR]

...with the important warning to not read them until you have played the games they are related to! All kinds of spoilers in them.

The Side Stories page is here.

"Tales from the Calamity" can probably be read straight away, but is better appreciated once you've finished ARR and know that group of characters.

"Tales from the Dragonsong War" should only be read after completing Heavensward and its post-credits storyline.

And "Tales from the Storm" should be read post-Stormblood.

I have to kind of disagree to a point as you don't get much spoilers on the GC leaders in their stories. I also feel like Alisaie's HW story should be read before (spoilers) she's brought back into the MSQ as I've known some who have found her personality change odd as they either A only had seen her leave in ARR's story line and when we meet her again is their 1st time seeing her again, or B last time they saw her was the end of Coils and neither group read her side story of what she had been doing in the meantime. There's other HW side sotries that happen before HW events even happen. So read at your own risk I guess.

[Kresus]

Hello, I recently started playing FFXIV frequently, after the latest WoW expansion was disappointing. The game has been very fun, but I've been missing something I became very familiar with in WoW: the lore. I know that much is wrapped up in the Main Story quests, but I wanted to ask if there was somewhere where most of the lore was covered in a clear and concise manner, as a catch-up mechanism.

The official lore books would be your best bet. Other than that, the MSQ will keep feeding you lore as you progress. It depends on how well you can memorize cutscenes and dialogue.

[Iscah]

I have to kind of disagree to a point as you don't get much spoilers on the GC leaders in their stories. I also feel like Alisaie's HW story should be read before (spoilers) she's brought back into the MSQ as I've known some who have found her personality change odd as they either A only had seen her leave in ARR's story line and when we meet her again is their 1st time seeing her again, or B last time they saw her was the end of Coils and neither group read her side story of what she had been doing in the meantime. There's other HW side sotries that happen before HW events even happen. So read at your own risk I guess.

As I said, the Calamity stories aren't really spoilers, but they also probably don't make as much sense if you don't know the characters yet.

Also some of the Heavensward side stories take place before the main plot, but you still don't want to go reading through the side stories page until you're clear of all spoilers, because they're all mixed in together.

[Shadygrove]

Almost every storyline gives you some lore.

The crafting and gathering guilds each have their own stories as do the combat classes.

CON, MIN, ALC, ARC, and GSM have a fair bit of lore while MRD, LTH, and FSH have almost none save for their own storylines. BTW, while MRD has no lore save internal, WAR has a fair bit.

The MSQ gives the most, of course.

[radhaz]

Don't forget SMN story lore. One of the perks is you get to hang out with Y'shtola's half sister, Y'mhitra.