I do agree that mandatory MSQ will be a big barrier for many people who aren't interested in story. I suggested an option to unlock everything without quest requirement a while back:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-mandatory-MSQ

Quote Originally Posted by SamRF View Post
Would it be feasible to add an option to unlock instances without making it mandatory to do MSQ?

Most MMOs don't have such a (long) main mandatory questline to unlock content and allow players to journey through the game however they like. People who don't care much for story will have a terrible time in FFXIV.

People who still want to unlock stuff through MSQ can continue to do so and unlock content that way. People who don't care for the MSQ can unlock the instances with this option and decide to perhaps do the MSQ another time.

I'm pretty sure this option would open up the game to (quite a lot) of new players who are for example only interested in combat/crafting/instances/raids/art and don't want to experience forced visual novel.

I would personally never use this option because I greatly enjoy the MSQ but I think this game is missing out on a lot of new players because of the MSQ barrier. Even with an MSQ skip they have to go through lots of quests (towards and at endgame) before unlocking content/instances and have to do so again with each patch.

Why would you be for or against this option? What needs to be taken into consideration?
However I sort of get the argument that SE doesn't want people to skip trough the story because a huge amount of time will be bypassed, time for which you pay with subscription, which is why jump boosts are as expensive as they are I guess.

Still don't agree with it and believe the game would attract much more players having it optional. New players will always be able to go trough the story at later time so it will take them a loong time before they run out of things to do anyway, plenty of potential subscription months and a more satisfied player.