Pagos issues now that I've finished the story

We all know Pagos was not well received. Changes were made and are still coming, but many issues remain. Here are a few problems I haven't seen touched on much that I hope Square Enix can learn from moving forward.

First of all, the lack of mount until 35.

I thought from 20 that it felt kinda messed up that we gained the ability to use our mount in Eureka only for it to be taken away in the next zone of Eureka, but I found it much worse after I got my mount at 35. The biggest problem I have is not that it was taken away, it's that no explanation was given. At 35, I finished the quest, and then got a generic message on the bottom of the screen that I could now use my mount. So wait, they took it away only to give it back without any story reason involved? At least in Anemos it was tied to the story. In Pagos, there was nothing, no reason it was taken away, and no reason it was given back. If it is going to be taken away again which I still think is wrong, at least take the time to tie gaining it back into the story. Even if it's as simple as Aether Currents, or exploration, or achievements, something we feel like we need to earn.

Second, from a gameplay perspective, the level 40 dragons.

If these type of mobs are included again, meaning super high level sleeping mobs that you have to sneak by or get one shot, at least make it work correctly. I get killed by them constantly because my connection is not the most stable. Meaning, I get a small lag spike and it no longer cares that I'm still walking. Please find a way to code something like this to check if walk is toggled or something so it doesn't break with lag.

Third would be the basic design. Give more options of things to do and get rid of exp penalty on death and release.

This has been mentioned before, but this game is not Final Fantasy XI. We need more than just grinding. As for the death penalty, it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the lag deaths on dragons. The overall way Pagos was received has led to a not pleasant experience inside and the community is not as helpful as they were in Anemos. I died many times in Anemos but never once lost experience. In Pagos I have lost experience 3 times already because nobody would come rez me. I like going and helping to rez somebody that has died, but again, I won't go near dragons to rez somebody because of a fear of a lag spike death. The design has led to a more hostile community unwilling to help one another as well as fear of uncontrollable deaths.

In summary, the zone needs to work even with the occasional lag, it needs to have the included content make sense and be given a reason for being, and it needs to contain more variety to keep the atmosphere fun and inviting.

Thank you and happy hunting.

Gonna tack an idea onto this thread. Was thinking it would be cool for side content like Eureka to have power-up kinda of progression like a Metroid game which allows you to interact with the terrain differently as you acquire new abilities / duty actions. Things like being able to climb or leap up onto ledges above you, convert/morph weakened enemies into an item, absorb dmg of a certain element and convert it to self heal (with a cooldown) etc

How about adjusting the drop rate of rewards, too? 99% chance of Materia drops isn't appealing.

The entire light grind system needs a rework. Are there mobs who give more light per suffusion than the sleeping dragons? Yes. Do those suffusions happen often enough to make the trip to those mobs worthwhile? No, especially when NMs decide to actually pop. Might there be a more reliable or efficient way? I can't tell you in all honesty, as no one seems to have found it, or any hint as to how to make it happen.

Oh yeah, such hints are basic game design, aren't they? I guess that's too much to ask for these days.