So I want to say that I have tried to get into FFXIV many many times over a few years. I always got bounced off by how dense the dialogue is and how long it was taking to get anywhere and anything done. I would quit and come back in a few months to try again at my friends behest. The amount of times I've had to stop and google a new word the dialogue said. lol.
But I didn't want to start skipping dialogue and cutscenes and whatnot cause then what am I even playing for? So I took my time, played when I wanted and slowly made it through ARR over the course of 2 years.
And by god was it worth it. By the end I felt I really understood this world, and its people and politics. I started seeing callbacks, referencing previous quests that I had just almost forgot about. I cried when the thing that would be spoilers to talk about happened at the end of ARR. I have become attached to my grand companies and my city.
My wife plays too but they got socially anxious about all the dungeons so now they spend all their time in the golden saucer running fates. I love that they are around.
The community on Farie as well has been amazing. I have not a single bad experience. I play tank for the record and come from WoW so when I fucked up I expected straight vitriol. But never once did I ever experience any kinda toxicity whatsoever. One time I was fiddling with my settings before a dungeon labeled (hard) and accidently left battle effects on full. I load into the dungeon and my eyes glaze over with the amount of stuff flying around the screen so i ask the crew to stop and let me turn it down. They do but the healer immediately just leaves the party. The other two commiserated with me and stuck around waiting for the replacement rather than abandoning the party as well. And the new healer was cool! fun guy in the chat!
I just wanted to share this with yall. It's the best MMO experience I've ever had and I cant wait to actually be doing the MMO stuff I love like hard AF raids and endgame stuff. But i will not rush the expansions. I will continue taking it at the pace that i feel comfortable with and only hope i outpace the release of new content. I'll catch up eventually.