It doesn't matter how the game is set up, people aren't going to be satisfied one way or another. I actually like that I can take my time with the story of this game so I can see WHAT the story of this game is. In FFXI for years it was rush around and jump from mule to mule to get whichever gear I needed for whichever mission I was redoing for whichever friend. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to drop group and regroup, but if you're in the same room with the person, it's not that big of a deal. I spent 5 years in FFXI stuck in a group for hours at a time grinding from level 10-75 for each job, I don't see how not being forced into that is a bad thing. The only thing that makes that harder is that you have to be patient enough to sit there and stare at the same mob for four hours and spam ctrl-1.
The fact is, not everyone has that kind of time to dedicate to a game. Developers are trying to give options to allow people to play if they have 10 hours to play or 2.