What is the point of mount drops...

[Malmstrom]

Correct me if this conversation going on in my head with you is wrong.

"What is the point of mount drops?"

Well, do you gather?
"no"

Do you fish?
"no"

Hmm. Hunts?
"no"

FATE trains? Maps? Beast tribes?
"no, no, and no"

I see. Too bad there isn't more open world content for you to take advantage of the mount drops :/
"IKR"

I shall correct you, then.

Do I gather? Yes. I fly around in a circle until I get what I need from a zone and then leave. Max time spent, maybe ten minutes? Or perhaps I am there for a specific node before I leave, in which case max time is about 3-5 minutes depending on the distance of the node.

Do I fish? Admittedly not that much, but a bit, yes.

Hunts? Sure, I go from aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot... Which is to say, no extra time is spent in the open world other than travel to the A rank and then you're done.

FATE trains? Why yes, as a matter of fact. I was capped on the shared FATEs probably the .... second week in to ShB? Maybe third. I don't think it was that long, though. I still do them occasionally though, as I enjoy a mindless grind and there are in fact a couple of gemstone items I don't have yet. That's probably the only activity that keeps me in a zone longer than 5-10 minutes, since everything else you mentioned does not.

Maps? See hunts. Beast tribes? See gathering. However long it takes to do the objective, and then there is no longer a reason to be there.

You guys act like everything other than fates keeps you in a zone all day.

[Vahlnir]

I shall correct you, then.

Do I gather? Yes. I fly around in a circle until I get what I need from a zone and then leave. Max time spent, maybe ten minutes? Or perhaps I am there for a specific node before I leave, in which case max time is about 3-5 minutes depending on the distance of the node.

Do I fish? Admittedly not that much, but a bit, yes.

Hunts? Sure, I go from aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot... Which is to say, no extra time is spent in the open world other than travel to the A rank and then you're done.

FATE trains? Why yes, as a matter of fact. I was capped on the shared FATEs probably the .... second week in to ShB? Maybe third. I don't think it was that long, though. I still do them occasionally though, as I enjoy a mindless grind and there are in fact a couple of gemstone items I don't have yet. That's probably the only activity that keeps me in a zone longer than 5-10 minutes, since everything else you mentioned does not.

Maps? See hunts. Beast tribes? See gathering. However long it takes to do the objective, and then there is no longer a reason to be there.

You guys act like everything other than fates keeps you in a zone all day.

In fairness, I also believe that there's a lack of open world content in general. That's not to say that such content doesn't exist, because it obviously does. But I feel that there needs to be something...more. Probably multiple somethings.

[Vidu]

I shall correct you, then.

Do I gather? Yes. I fly around in a circle until I get what I need from a zone and then leave. Max time spent, maybe ten minutes? Or perhaps I am there for a specific node before I leave, in which case max time is about 3-5 minutes depending on the distance of the node.

Do I fish? Admittedly not that much, but a bit, yes.

Hunts? Sure, I go from aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot to aetheryte to kill spot... Which is to say, no extra time is spent in the open world other than travel to the A rank and then you're done.

FATE trains? Why yes, as a matter of fact. I was capped on the shared FATEs probably the .... second week in to ShB? Maybe third. I don't think it was that long, though. I still do them occasionally though, as I enjoy a mindless grind and there are in fact a couple of gemstone items I don't have yet. That's probably the only activity that keeps me in a zone longer than 5-10 minutes, since everything else you mentioned does not.

Maps? See hunts. Beast tribes? See gathering. However long it takes to do the objective, and then there is no longer a reason to be there.

You guys act like everything other than fates keeps you in a zone all day.

How long it takes to do the objective (hunt, gathering, beast tribe) is irrelevant to your question here. The mount isnt there to do those objectives, its there to get you to them.
If you gather in different places or hit different timed nodes all over the world you might only spend a few minutes in each zone, but if you leave for another zone in which you also need to hit a timed node (at least for me thats often the case when grabbing mats for endgame crafts), you'll spend a couple of minutes on your mount again - if you end up hopping through various zones and only spend a few minutes in each, you might very well have still spend half an hour using your mount - just not all in Lakeland, but in Rak'Tika, Tempest and Kholuisia too.

Same with hunts, beast tribes and everything else - mounts are there to travel through the open world. They're meant to shorten the time you spend in the open world by getting to you to your objective faster. May I suggest you dont use mounts anymore unless there is absolutly no other way to get to the place you want to be? That would increase the time you spent in each zone.

Or do you actually want more (or any, really) content that involves nothing but flying around on your mount, where the mount is the center and there is no other objective than flying circles?
(Actually, thinking about it now... having a little Flying Minigame in each zone with rings to fly through in each zone could be funny...)

[Jojoya]

You guys act like everything other than fates keeps you in a zone all day.

A single zone isn't intended to keep you occupied all day. For that matter, the entire game isn't intended to keep you entertained all day.

It's okay to have other games to play in addition to FFXIV if you have that much free time on your hands. Branch out and try some. Most of the players I know are frequently switching between FFXIV and other games in their free time.

In the meantime some of us will be leisurely flying around the open world for no purpose other than to enjoy the views and the music, and having a darn good time as we do it.