General concerns with the Devs content philosophy

[Arkfrost]

Look outside at nature. You don't get an animal standing every 2 feet.

No, but...

...in nature I see small plants growing in every possible space, insects hopping around the grass, small birds singing and flying around, fruits fallen from trees
...in cities I see people walking around the area, sweeping and cleaning the ground and not just all standing in one place, I see shelves full of items in shops, I know that people store food and drinks
...in bars I see the bar itself stashed full of bottles, people sitting around talking to each other, drinking and playing games like Triple Triad against each other

As for the Crystarium feeling a bit empty: I can see that point. There should be a few more NPCs up and about, considering it is one of the main cities left. Maybe SE could load balance NPC population with player population, so you always get a filled city but not an overcrowded one should many players be in the zone.

Signed. Also what should be considered, is that the majority of players are usually concentrated around the market boards and the levequest NPCs, while the rest of the area usually has like 1-5 players in it. Maybe fill those areas where players mostly aren't present with NPCs? They don't get loaded unless you're in range anyway.

And that's fine! I just wish there were a bit of a compromise. Something I failed to mention in my post is that some zones may be intentionally made out to feel empty, which, again, is fine...

I agree with that. The Azim Steppe for example is good as it is, since it wouldn't make sense if it was filled with stuff. Same with Western Coerthas. But zones like Lakeland or Yanxia feel extremely empty.

One thing I really liked with this expansion is that they made Eulmore the endgame hub, the place to be. I recall not liking Rhalgr's Reach quite as much cause it was biiiig and people were a bit too spread out.

Signed as well. Eulmore is beyond awesome. If it weren't for the amazing feature of Idyllshire that with every subsequent patch the city was rebuilt and you were always theorizing what would change next time, I'd even say, that Eulmore is far beyond better than any endgame hub so far.