I still think Meracydia is going to be the finale of FFXIV. As in, the series finale. There are so many story hooks that we've gotten that are all linked to that region, and the joke the Australia and Africa, to a certain extent, is just Earth (Extreme) and everyone and everything is over level 150 and that's the normal feels too good to use asap.

Conversely, the devs may choose to close out all of that to move on the new things sooner than later.

I hope the 9th isn't just more FFIX at home if we do go to explore it.