FF14 is interesting in that it has players who couldn't care less about the story, but become invested in the game and play for years in all sorts of content, from raiding, housing, gathering, crafting and so on. Personally I think that's great, it's a sign they're doing things right if they can offer us a great story but still have enough to keep the players who aren't interested in story engaged.

Scenario skips are perfectly fine. I'd never use one, but if story isn't your cup of tea I'm certainly not going to judge. We both get what we enjoy.