OMG another frikin Airship cryfest...

Look:

1) OP made the comparison between FFXIs Teleporting and FFXIV Airship. Teleportation in FFXI is more akin to Anima usage in FFXIV first off.

2) OP stated that FFXI's Teleportation "sent you to out of the way places" which had "aggroing mobs". Have you traveled around FFXIV at all? Have you not seen the MANY airship ports throghout the game? Some are in low level spots and some are in high level spots surrounded by a lot of aggro. Only difference here is: Airship rides will be primarily for city to city travel at first implementation. YoshiP stated that later on they will open up availability to outside areas.

3) OK So Airship is insta now... but will be optionally interactive now. HERE IS WHY: SE is implementing the mechanics for the airship system. FOR ALL YOU KNOW they could be later on utilizing the instant airship to the various routes throghout the game and the interactice rides to cities. Why would this make sense? Think about it: The various airship hubs throghout FFXIV are all varied lengths from the cities. This would be a pain for players because the varied travel times could mean a rougher time planning how long it will take them to meet up with party members if they go to X location versus Y location.

SE has a plan.