I tried getting into the game last year, and while I enjoyed the game for the most part, it was incredibly easy, to the point where combat seemed like something that got in the way rather than something to be enjoyed. I had healing spells, but I didn’t need them, and I was never at risk of dying. Doing any side-quests at all made me seriously over-leveled for story quests, and I wasn’t even getting into the story. I know you can just pay to skip the story, which doesn’t sound at all like a good idea (paying extra for less game?)
If they do something to make the game more interesting and challenging for newer players, I would gladly check it out again. But is this something that’s actually in the works?
I think a lot of folks who push the MSQ are doing it through rose tinted glasses. A lot of MSQ advocates did the story as it came out so the time spent in MSQ was much less. I just helped a buddy through the ARR MSQ and he swore to me he would quit if he didn’t buy a MSQ skip. So he did and now he is much happier. He had a lot of issues going through Endwalker MSQ because he didn’t care about the story but overall he didn’t quit so that is a major win for me. To get his first job to 90, add in some crafter leveling, and the ARR MSQ+Endwalker MSQ he still has over 185 hours in the game and JUST hit 90… THAT IS A LOT OF TIME TO GET MAX. Compare that to WoW where you can have a max level character in 10-20 hours and it just shows how much there is to do sans MSQ.
At this point the MSQ doesn’t need reworked. The MSQ needs to be completely optional up until the current xpac. 500+ hours of MSQ content is such an unreasonable ask for a new player. It’s like telling a new anime watcher that they have to watch all of One Piece before watching any other anime. Sure One Piece is an amazing anime but most people see the length as a daunting task to overcome.
Look at Asmongold. He really enjoyed the game but quit around Stormblood. That is the typical experience for a new player.