Well, it depends.

If you are looking for a time sinker, then this is the game for you. I have played since June 5th of last year, and I am only level 61 WHM. It took me a month to get my full Artifact Gear (really good stuff), and I am still working to complete my missions/ZMs/PMs even after all that time.

The exp grind is literally a grind. It takes a while to level up here, expecially level 51+

But is it worth it?

Oh definately. The people that I have met playing I have gotten to know really well, and have even talked to (and met) outside of the game a precious few of them. Granted, we have our jerks, but any MMO you play has that.

I have tried WoW, EQ, and EQ2...and out of all of them I have to say that I still keep coming back to FFXI.

Hope that helps you out!