The story is great, but it blatantly gets in the way of the rest of the game

[DPZ2]

I think the story is OK and I want to see it play out, but it isn't my main reason to play. The story only dominates the play experience of FF14 because it insists on itself to the point where you have to literally pay money to not play it. I don't think that does this game any favors.

Alas, you are under the impression that this is a game where story should be optional, while the producers of this game consider it essential. You can never be satisfied, since the primary objective, the reason this game exists in the first place, is to tell that story, using the trappings of an MMORPG.

If you cannot reconcile that with yourself, you're going to be playing the wrong game and disliking it.