All this discussion on technical debt is odd, as developers aren't using the tools that we've seen in action. Instanced combat, phasing NPCs in the open world, dynamic cutscenes, and other techniques are clearly in the game, and the game has a gigantic budget to work with.

I finally finished the post-EW MSQ slog and it was really tough. How many times did I return to that spot on Radz to click on a NPC and be ushered into a cutscene? Why couldn't I enter the area in the open world to see my allies standing there and discuss the quest with them instead? Why was so much time put into shot-reverse shit discussion on friendship and trust instead of sending me into the world to collect regeants or fight off incursions or whatever?

Just looking at other MMOs, there are many ways to engage players even with an old engine, if your devs are willing to shift time to active play instead of endless dialog.

If these post-release MSaq chains are so hit and miss, why not make them optional? Guild Wars 2 for example had optional episodic content, where the player could choose to engage with a continuation of last expansion or jump directly into the current expansion. Sure you might be a bit behind on plot, but FFXIV doesn't see much development there either. The Zero storyline was almost completely self-contained, as we met someone knew, watched them move through their obvious-at-first-sight character arc, and then banished them from the cast. No one in the remaining cast was developed or changed. Much of the conflict is immediately resolved right after it is introduced. It just feels like checking the box on something that is technically a plot.