Val the Moofia Boss i agree that the Ul'dah plotline was interesting but as soon as anything starts to happen with it they just shelf it. I did think that the intrigue parts of HW were interesting in a similar way though.
The ARR raids are brutally boring though with how cutscene heavy they are, particularly Praetorium. Generally though I felt that about most of the group content in FFXIV... Everything had this sort of on rails feeling to it Imo.
Either way, I was sufficiently into everything up to Stormblood to keep going.