So regarding new player experience, 5 friends of mine out of the moon decided to play FFXIV they are leaving WoW (Wow who heard this story before huh). I was surprised and happy at the same time, since ARR had to play alone basically but its not the subject of the thread.

Their experience:
They like the pacing of PvE and visual presentation since they used to play old FF games so they have something familiar to be attached with, but they have a universal consensus that the story pacing is a damn slog painful sometimes, wish they condensed everything in a cutscene instead of going to X to Y place and triggering a cutscene.

Wish they offered an option to the player just enjoy combat and if they desire to engage with MSQ they could just pick a Chapter and start from there, that would retain a lot of players that are not much interested in the story side of FFXIV. (Personal note: I loved the story since HW)

Some people get in this game interested in the end game, FFXIV have a reputation with their encounters but the slow pacing of 1 to 80 scare away the new blood.