Well I for one like it. And Guild Wars was very effective with unlimited teleporting.

It has nothing to do with forcing people to explore or hiding a lack of content, teleporting is simply a good way to get around the game.

Remember, the intent in FFXIV for us to change roles often and do what we like; that means a lot of traveling. One minute I'm fishing in Gridania and the next I'm making potions in Uldah.

Adding a 10 minute chocobo ride would:

A. Mean my computer would have to work even harder to render FFXIV at (mostly) max settings, so I'd have to turn down the settings any time I wanted to zip across the landscape.

B. Waste my time.

Please don't waste my time!
"Game Too Accessible"
"Discourage"?!
Why exactly are you looking to punish me?