XIs snow zones do not feature a snowman. Your argument is invalid.
There are far more little details dotted around Eorzea than there were in Vana'diel. Vana'diel was, for the most part, copy and paste, with the occasional Crag/Cragline/Testicles in Crawlers Nest. Eorzea has far more interesting zones, all areas of which have a purpose. Vana'diel had large zones, most of which weren't useful for much at all.
Really, people should only compare vanilla XI to ARR, and even that's unfair because ARR had a three year setback. The whole of Black Shroud or the San'd Oria areas? The whole of Thanalan or the Bastok areas? La Noscea or Windurst? Qufim Isle or Coerthas? Which of those zones are more interesting? What exactly does Qufim Isle have over Coerthas? A pond and ghost spawn mechanic that ruins your EXP/hr?
