This reminds me of WoW: TBC (which I consider the golden age, so there is my bias).

To get into kharazan you had to do a crazy quest line and farm heroic dungeons. It was a serious hassle, but I loved it. When pug raids started forming you knew at minimum that every player in your raid was competent enough to obey mechanics up to that point. Maybe you wiped, but you knew everyone there was intent to give it their all because of how they got there. So, I definitely understand the viewpoint posited here.

I don't think FFXIV should be impeding story content for the more casual gamers, but I'd totally be ok with stricter gated raid requirements for higher difficulties. Gates that aren't story-blocking. I can live with it as it is, too.