Quote Originally Posted by ForteNightshade View Post
Yoshida admitted they initially planned Endwalker to be two parts in one of the LLs. Ishikawa decided it would be better to condense the story into one as she didn't think there would be enough material. That was also a concern of Yoshida's, alongside whether people would like a potential cliffhanger that wouldn't really have a full resolution until two years later.

So assuming all that to be correct, they absolutely rushed to the conclusion. It hurt Endwalker in my opinion but also left them with next to nothing for Dawntrail. My own theory is they were wholly unprepared for a brand new story and vastly underestimated the position it put them in. Hence why Dawntrail feels like a big filler arc because, well, I suspect that's exactly what it will become. An expansion made to buy them another two years.
The first half definitely didn't have much material unless they massively expanded Garlemald(which I wouldn't have minded) and maybe Thavnair, but there needed to be a lot more after Zodiark's death to actually make things feel dire, as opposed to the Final Days fully manifesting in only 2 zones and then everything else happening in the past, underground, and in space, and Meteion needed to be introduced sooner. Hythlodaeus had some dialogue in either ShB or in Mare Lamentorum about them receiving reports of the Final Days gradually spreading across the planet before it finally reached Amaurot, and we needed to see that gradual spread as we tried and failed to find ways to get to Ultima Thule.