why i quit before reaching endgame (feedback from a new player)

[Penthea]

I'd like to take my friend through the stuff he wants to do.

alas, he cannot do them, because while he's high enough level to do them, he has 16 levels of the msq to do still.

Maybe if I wish really hard, him being the correct level and having 380 gear would be enough to do normal raids. I doubt it, but hey, you never know, me being his friend might magically make it happen.

If the only content your friend wants to do is for 380 ilvl+ then this game isn't for them. FFXIV isn't only about being max lvl. It never has been.

There is plenty of good content long before then and with lvl sync you can do a lot of it with him already. You obviously would know this but you complain as if this option doesn't exist. So I'm suspecting that you are the one refusing to do lower lvl content, which then leaves your friend keenly feeling the gap between your lvl and his.