I resubscribed to FFXIV today after realizing I had like 30 hours of catch-up questing to do before I could even start SHB, so I wouldn't have to buy the expansion upfront anyway.
God, this game's pacing feels more glacial than ever. I am so not interested in Stormblood at all. The Ruby Sea is a chore to navigate for no practical reason. Every quest in the MSQ is still gated behind half a level worth's experience.
As the years come the game feels more and more dated...
The situation with the MSQ is increasingly awful for new characters, and I don't get the impression they're going to change it or any of the other 6 year old design decisions that make this game an absolute chore to play.
Right now, if you roll a new character on another data center as an alt, it will take you over a hundred hours just to get up to speed. That's a mess.