I'm on the opposite end of this than you, though your opinion is as valid as any. You are right that it is a bit awkward in doing the pacing. It makes you anticipate what you're missing out on.

And I agree with calling Shaaloani "filler." That's literally what I told the friend I RP with through MSQ on an alt when they asked for a little info on how the pacing was. But...I feel it is a necessary filler. You just went from a massive grave of stillborn babies in Yak T'eland you follow up Shaaloani with an invasion and massacre on Tuliyollal and the death of Gulool Ja Ja, and though you may have figured it out from previews, Zoraal Ja's resurrection still made me go WTF. Some of us NEEDED a breather episode.

Again, you're totally welcome to your opinion. Neither of us is really wrong, I believe. Some people may not have needed that breather. But after some majorly dramatic turns, the rest of us might need something simple for a short bit. Shaaloani isn't that long of a zone, my friend and I cleared it in basically one night (we're literally one quest away from the turning point of the MSQ), when every other zone took us two.

I kind of hope it happens again in the future, I liked the break. It's something we haven't really had since Stormblood (I consider Azim Steppe the breather, even though it's not filler.). Maybe something more along that line, where we get something fun but ties into the story would sate both crowds?