Open world is another issue this game has. It's so bland and empty most of the time because the rewards often aren't worth it. Not to mention the open world events are so barebones, as well. Meanwhile Gw2 has us flying our Skyscales (flying dragon mounts) and shooting fireballs at things while being hundreds of feet in the air because of the sheer verticality some of the maps have. All the rewards feel like they matter, too. FFXIV really needs to take notes from Gw2 just like WoW did when they added the new flying mount system with Dragonflight.

The craziest part is that Gw2 is a one time payment model and there is always so much to do despite being the only MMO with no gear treadmill. Never once did I feel like I had nothing to do when logging in, often finding myself spending a whole day doing content. I've yet to dabble in the housing system since I'm still playing catchup with the last two expansions, but I already know it's leagues better than FFXIV's. Wild how a game can respect someone's time and still be successful.