If a game doesn't have a lot of combat it usually compromises by allowing for dialogue options to change the outcome of quests...which isn't something that FFXIV sees fit to do because - conveniently - it both wants to be a single player game more often than not but also force specific outcomes at every possible turn. Even in terms of looking at other MMO's, however, many of them manage to balance opportunities for combat even as they tell a story.

I guess a lot of people really do want this game to be little more than a visual novel, though.