My problem with leveling up in FFXIV.

[Jojoya]

I really think a lot of people are missing what I'm saying. I was not saying FFXIV has too much reading and traveling. I was just asking if anyone else feels like they spend most their time reading and traveling and not interacting with what little time they may have. I understand lore and reading text and story is part of an RPG. I'm not new to this as I have played a ton of MMOs and single player RPGs. Again the point was when I don't have a lot of time and I have been working all day I want game time that I'm more involved in. It's not a dig at the game, it's more about my situation really. I will admit that ffxiv has more reading than I think it needs but it's no deal breaker.

When you're working on the story quests, there's absolutely a lot of time reading (or watching cutscenes) because that's how you learn the story. You're free to skip the reading if you feel it takes too much time and just follow the quest objectives listed in your objective tracker. I know a few players who have done it (though most of them regretted it later when they realized it was a story worth following and they had no clue what had been happening).

Travel time isn't as bad as it seems. It's an important part of the world building and story telling. Things would be boring if everything was happening in the same small location.

It's your situation and what you want to get out of your limited game time that makes some of the posters wonder if this is the right game for you. The MSQ format is what it is, an immersive storytelling experience that isn't likely to appeal to players who want less story and a lot more action. SE is unlikely to change it.

There is plenty of content that is more combat focused that you could be doing, but ultimately it's going to hinder progressing your character if you neglect the MSQ since MSQ blocks access to new locations and new content. The game should feel better once you get caught up to the end of the current MSQ but there's a lot of content you need to get done before you're there - and that's going to mean spending a lot of your time reading and travelling.

Ultimately it's up to you to decide if the game is giving you what you want for your leisure time. MMORPGs can be very difficult to get into when your leisure time for the week is broken up into multiple small blocks of time instead of a few large blocks of time. It's something you need to take into consideration.