It's a lot, LOT less than the quest content basically every other game has to offer in the same timeframe.
Yet they have a better quality. Or you saying the starting quests in any other MMO are like the main scenario quests in XIV? First impression is that a massive seadragon/goobbue/treant attacks you, shit goes down and epic stuff happens. Then you get to dive deeper into the story of the game every 5 ranks (which, as was said, are easy to acquire. I think the tutorial levequest got me to rank 4).

New players come in expecting to find quest content comparable to other games they're used to, and they don't during the game's beginning.
What the hell are you talking about? People expect to find themselves in a game with "ho ho ho adventurer, my soup needs 5 bat wings!"-quests and instead a massive dragonzoid attacks your ship. Later you are presented with more cutscenes that rival that of single player games, and you get to do your normal sidequests and guildleves as well while meeting other people. And it only gets better (not worse [important]) as time goes on and you unlock class quests. If the new combat system is any fun, that will keep people playing as well.

Actually, you seem to be making up excuses in order to oppose the idea for some reason. "NO! PLEASE don't give us more and more varied things to do at low levels!" (like it was a bad thing).
"For some reason"? I just told you it is bad design to focus your content on the ranks where you level up fast as-is, while making the higher ranks more barren. You saying that isn't a bad thing? To hell with consistency, must get the newbs hooked so that they can quit in the later levels when the content dries up!

Changing an economy radically isn't something that can be easily done, and most probably won't happen. It might be adjusted, but not really revolutioned.
You can't talk about balance before we see where the game is headed. You don't know how valuable the gil and other rewards will be when the time comes.

But, but, "maybe" "it might", "most probably", "I study teh ecanomix", blah blah.

You don't know, period.