While I completely understand the whole concept of instant transportation, it removes the feeling of a "huge world of danger and intrigue"

There was something special and emotional about ffxi. For example, having to run to Rabao on your own. You had to go through a dangerous tunnel, run through two deserts, and then in the middle of this hostile area was this pretty little oasis town.
Or having to get norg by traversing through the jungle labyrinths.
Even CoP requiring you to complete missions and run through a zone before you could access the tavnazian safehold.

SE has always been great at eliciting emotion. And that's one of the things that set final fantasy apart from a lot of other shallow RPGs. The world's they created were ones you -wanted- to explore. And when you ran through a wartorn area with sadness only to find a cute little village hidden in the middle of nowhere, it felt beautiful.

Even in FFXIV 1.0, the first time i managed to get to that one town west(?) of Ishguard, the one that was never used for anything really, felt amazing. I had to get past all these mobs and died multiple times (this is back in open beta), before finally managing to get through the cave.

I've always liked the idea of hidden towns, beautiful areas (ex. statues in caves), amazing places to fish or gather, and hard-to-get to places in games. For example, one of my fav spots in ffxi was in yhotar jungle by a waterfall type area, where you had to travel all the way through ifrits cauldren to reach it. And there were some quests associated with it making it really cool (as it was nearly impossible to get there solo early in the game).

FFXIV could really benefit from -some- things like that. And I realize people these days are accustomed to insta-porting everywhere. But i don't think it would hurt to have -1- area, or part of an expansion, without the teleportation. Where it feels like an accomplishment to reach certain towns or areas, and it really feels "out of the way". It would just add a nice emotional touch. And a lot of creativity could be put into it, creating an emotional experience and adventure that players would never forget.

:]