When I was playing the 5.4 MSQ, which I enjoyed as someone currently playing at max level with little to do before it came, one of my first thoughts was ‘this will be a slog going through it for new players’.

Can’t remember any others off the top of my head but both SB and HW had some real filler patch quests too.

To me I think the best solution would be to make most patch content optional. The ending would need tweaking but the Limsa story could have been done as a blue quest really, and then the other stuff that’s more relevant to the wider plot could be MSQ.

They could also maybe unlock dungeons a different way than just going through a MSQ.