I would 100% recommend purchasing the item to complete the story for $25. FFXIV more than anything is a social game and from my perspective any time that you have to be slogging through story quests alone from previous content is time not spent building relationships or having fun with your friends. There are plenty of story resources on YouTube and other places that can give at least a passable way to experience the story. I would certainly not take away any story elements from the game, as that is a key element of the identity it has built for itself. To do that now would hurt way more than it would help and I think alienate a large portion of the playerbase. And if responses to pokemon have shown anything it's that if you remove a key component of a game franchise, people will riot.