FF14 player count reached the lowest point in 4 years. We lost 75% of the playerbase.

[Voidmage]

It is frightening to see the game that empty. Even on popularted data centers amount of activity is very low. Influx of new players is very low and very slow, sloggish start does not helps. I can not bring any friends into game because they are facing multiple hunderds of hours grind (or extra $50) before they will be able to do any relevant content.
Please allow new people to start in latest expansion.

What "relevant" content?
The endgame is simply the weekly raiding scene.

The problem isn't the long story up to endgame but that it's so extremely boring to do it with the state of the jobs, dungeons and trials till DT being in an atrocious state.

The story is the main selling point of this game and if people want to play that game they either know that or do it BECAUSE of the story.
I don't mind a skip personally but it's not the solution people think it is because what then? You simply are bored with the endgame.

The whole path to that needs to be interesting again with jobs being fun and content like crystal tower being properly addressed.
I would bet money, that would address a good number of issues already for new players because at least from what I have seen and felt myself by replaying the whole thing is that the story itself is fine but the whole construct around it is boring.

People act like there don't exist players who genuinely enjoy starting a game for the story.
This whole community has become so endgame obsessed nowadays or have forgotten their own journey.

The early game design needs to change from a gameplay perspective and not just giving a story skip.
I would bet, that if Ifrit wasn't a laughing stock that dies as soon as a newborn coughs at, then new players could and probably would enjoy the early game far more.