I'm really excited about this feature. It has the potential to be something great. All the ingredients are there; the setting is cool (Airships!), it's open world (there are so few open world options), it has NMs, and the chance at very cool loot (both for stats and glamour!).
I have two worries right now though, because of its open world nature I worry that it could be so crowded that it's more of a race/competition than it is fun, but it's possible that the zones involved are big enough with enough resources that this won't happen. I also worry that the randomness involved could hurt some people (it's no fun being a statistical outlier), but the fact you can turn in unwanted items for points alleviates this worry a bit for me.
All and all I'm super hyped. My company is small and none of us are involved in hardcore raiding, this seems like a great way for us to get together and knock out fun and relevant content without needing to DF things or bring in outside help.