I thought the raids were going to be the new "main party content" thing. And the new quest hubs or whatever they are. Both, I think, are due in 1.18 - although I'm not 100% sure about the quest hubs. I think they are, though...

I'm glad the guildleves are being "stepped back" as them being the key quest thing was one of my biggest gripes about the original FFXIV. I just didn't like them. The only reason I used them constantly was the sp bonus, but I would much rather have done regular quests for the same thing. I like going to NPCs and having discussions with them (well, one-sided conversations, anyway), not having a little card that says "this is what you need to do." So the less I see of guildleves, the better.

Still, as you said, it's the taking away of something which is one thing, the replacing of that thing is entirely another. So I'll have to wait and see how the new content looks. For now, all I'm interested in is the new battle system. I don't expect that isn't to do with battle stuff until around 1.20, which is a shame for me as I'm personally more interested in the stuff that isn't directly to do with battles. But I'll just have to wait.