Crystarium. So that town we caught a glimpse of in 2005 officially has a name now.

[Shurrikhan]

I mean I'm trying to imagine them in as best I can, but short of using a ton of them the huge spaces just don't seem very welcoming(?) or practical, I guess? I don't know; kind of an odd feeling. I like the area more than RT and maybe Idllyshire (though that's kind of comparing small settlement apples to city oranges), but less than RR or Kugane. With NPCs, I imagine I'll like it about as much as Ishgard if Ishgard didn't have loading screens.

[RenewalXVII]

I mean I'm trying to imagine them in as best I can, but short of using a ton of them the huge spaces just don't seem very welcoming(?) or practical, I guess? I don't know; kind of an odd feeling. I like the area more than RT and maybe Idllyshire (though that's kind of comparing small settlement apples to city oranges), but less than RR or Kugane. With NPCs, I imagine I'll like it about as much as Ishgard if Ishgard didn't have loading screens.

It's obviously hard to say given it's still under development, but it may be a deliberate thematic choice. The world is ending after all, and it may be the case that people are dying off and leaving the Crystarium emptier and more and more sterile-feeling as you note. It's slowly becoming an ossified monument to what were once the people of Norvrandt. Just a thought anyway; I'm probably reading too much into it.