Hey there, you might like to watch this video and read some of this stuff if you want some heavy coverage of FFXIV.
IGN is good with their games coverage, and I watched it myself a while ago today.

But if you want the quick lowdown, it's more solo-friendly than other MMOs, but also has other issues as well.

Interesting question! I'm the same - the only exception would be WoW - they really made the team thing work so well, but I got sick of grinding and having to find groups ALL THE TIME - especially with these goddamn noob DK's... In the latter instances they really can screw up the whole run bad if they don't know what they're doing... X(

I've done some soloing in the game for a while, but there are a few bugs in the crafting system I'm waiting to see worked out before I get into the game more hardcore. (Well, that and Dead Rising 2) The thing I like is that you can level without ever having to fight unless you need crystals to craft. (Each of the crafting systems is a separate class and has a separate level that also helps to increase your main level.) Story wise: I've only gotten through the rank 1 starting story, but I did that entirely solo.

See, things in that video make me like it as it is geared toward people like me who only want to play an hour here or there, but then I am paying $13 a month to do so! What a racket...

I think with time it'll be better optimized for players like you, but right now they seem a bit all over the place. It's a bit contradictory that it suggests accessibility but then makes the leveling system time-consuming.

At least it looks visually impressive from what I've seen.

There's a series of gameplay videos (from late beta) with audio commentary:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BlueXephos#p/c/561514793F6CB99F/0/aF7vrQ04_q4

One of them involves completing the first storyline quest.