Theres a thing called anima

[Jynx]

Let's just go point by point here.

I did experience the Sea Horror and pirate raids, but yet again were fun only once you could actually participate

What about the trip to purungopo isle? or the trip on the clipper in carpenters landing? I guess just because you personally didn't like it it's somehow irrelevant to everyone right?

The airships/ferries didn't add to world depth, they felt like what the seemed like they always were, glorified loading screens.

Again I see plenty of people who don't think they were glorified loading screens, I don't see how your opinion is bringing anything more/less than people who have just a simple opinion on the subject. You can't deny that the airships and ferries didn't add a feeling of travel being what it actually was so you resort to plugging your ears and saying "NU UH!"

To top all this off, when Mass Effect 1 had elevators that you "rode" it added the same sense of verisimilitude that you are arguing for with airships rides, however they were rightfully lambasted for being over long and flow breaking when the same thing could have been achieved during actual player interactive game play... So I have to ask... Why do we want the citadel's elevators? Is it because they look like boats here?

What are you even trying to say? The elevators in Mass effect were not designed to be long because of "Verisimilitude" they were designed that way because Bioware made a terrible design choice in how to load a new area. Giving you nothing to do or even see while the game loaded the new floor you were moving towards (In reality you didn't move at all). Where as XI used it as a mechanic to do a few things.

A: Create the feeling of a more vast and open world.
B: Make you spend more time to achieve your goals (Yes it was a time waster)
C: Place to put some content (Pirates, sea horror, Uragnite NM, clipper ride)

Mainly A-B were the big points, you actually could get means of extreme fast travel within the game and be much like anima and warp whenever and wherever you wanted to go. But at the cost of your time, and being accomplished enough to finish the quests or attain the items to teleport. anima as it stands costs you nothing to use aside from your time (Even outside the game) Anima doesn't care what level you are, what part of the story is finished, how long you have had a character.

Hell you don't even need to go get the aether crystals themselves (You have to get the nodes but they are so close to the crystals themselves and usually have nothing to do at them anyways) You just need some sucker to teleport you to all the crystals.

I'll repeat this because you just don't seem to want to listen Panda~

XI was not perfect but something like adding content to airships could have been done. But really the ride was pretty quick, and really existed as a gated travel mechanic because once you got higher and more accomplished you had more methods much more effecient than airships.

Just because you didn't like it doesn't mean other players didn't enjoy it.