I'm hopeful that Eureka in Stormblood is that kind of first step by the devs to 'see how it is received'.

Me personally, i play this game casually because it is designed casually. Were it a horizontal progression MMO i would be grinding the crap out of everything to get all the ultimate things and it would probably take over my life, LOL. But i barely ever even touch endgame content because i always think to myself, what's the point when everything i work for will be moot by next month? Yet i am a statistic that shows the casual design in this game is the correct design because as a statistic, i am not interested in horizontal design, .... except that i am.

Now, i doubt this game will ever truly become that or go anywhere near that ... but the concept of Eureka is still shrouded in much mystery ... yet it has been described as a 'new way for players to progress in an open world format'. i am HOPEFUL, that this means a giant zone filled with lots of activities designed to provide tomes / gear etc at a similar pace to that which could be got through dungeons, except in a free roaming format. If it is anything close to that, you can be sure i will spend the vast majority of my time there, ... and if enough other people are similar, then suddenly we will become statistics that support that type of gameplay and the devs will notice .... and maybe create more of it.

Maybe...
But as i said, for now, i am a statistic that supports the current build because i play the current build.
But that doesn't mean i actually would play it if the thing i wanted were in the game.