I'm playing a White Mage now and it really isn't as bad as you claim it to be. Mobs still die pretty fast and ever since I got my Chocobo they die even faster. I wish Raging Strikes was a cross class skill tho. That would really help with the more HP spongy boss fights when you are leveling up. Dunno about neo-WoW, but Holy Paladins used to be the best spec to level up your pala since they were kings of solo AoE grinding.
The problem isn't really killing speed, it's the tedious repetitiveness of the entire leveling experience. Tab target next enemy, spam stone 2, cast fluid aura if mob starts a telegraphed attack, repeat. No procs to watch for, nothing that makes the experience remotely exciting. This was in 2013 sept, though I don't think they changed the basic concept. Oh yeah, sometimes there are 2-3 mobs at once, in that case I may need to dot the non-primary targets and/or cast regen on myself before spamming stone 2.
Chocobos are an ok concept (every mmo has companions nowadays), but there's a lot of tedious shit involved. In 2013 the main annoyances were an inability to mount (have to dismiss chocobo first, why can't the game auto-dismiss if I mount?), inability to queue for dungeons or get dropped from queue if I summon chocobo (they probably patched this by now.. I hope), having to dismiss before story combat scenes in mini-instances (again, why not do this automatically), and having to keep a few stacks of that consumable in inventory.
Wasn't talking about neo-WOW either, I leveled in vanilla and BC as holy -- not shockadin, mind. Seal of righteousness and autoattack all day. Consecrate was ok for AOE, but my affliction warlock was a way better AOE grinder and did more damage to boot (three dots on everything, keep moving, never die, loot when they drop).
edit: ANYWAY, I do agree that ffxiv is probably one of the best MMOs you can play currently... as long as content is your priority #1, and you don't mind a really simplistic/dumb leveling experience. It's probably a lot more enjoyable if you're a Final Fantasy fan and the story / quest design doesn't make you want to stab something.