Hey @Glitch I think you and I have the some of the same ruminations about filling these barren lands with '“more” so I’ll link my most recent post here since it pertains in some way to what you said. https://forums.funcom.com/t/singleplayer-blues/13271?u=merc-prince
I agree that the journey is fun but it would not hurt to find a trinket or item every once in a while that connects you to the story or the world around you. Exploring is the best part of the game to me, but we need something else to accompany it. For instance, after slaying some pirates, discovering a treasure chest by a shipwreck would be nice or even some regular old cave paintings would be pretty cool once you have killed more than a handful of spiders. We don’t need to have anything out of the ordinary, but simply more conventional mechanics often found in games like “easter eggs” and the like. Shoot, I would even take a puzzle here or there if it would help shake things up for the player as an individual. After all, games are pieces of art, and the best games will be full of wonder and suspense.