All that said, with your statement above you've just, in my opinion, have stated exactly why it SHOULD be in Open World...to add to the general challenge.
I absolutely agree. Challenge is something this game lacks in all but it's highest runs, and then it's just a matter of finding the patterns.
However, for most runs, the enemies don't roam around in the PvE open world. If they do, they're just regular reds.
We run in different circles...I have to admit that when I join players in groups most of their maps are cleared...I look at mine and woe that I have two encounters I keep forgetting to clear and a good handful of collection items to get still.
I don't want to make this sound like its PC vs. Console outlook toward gaming and gaming rewards but maybe that's a difference, though it sounds like a horrid generalisation I'm not happy with.
Perhaps the game I want isn't the game the people you encounter want? I'm not sure the two are reconcilable which is perhaps the biggest issue. What, for example, are players achieving by just rushing up to the highest point? Its like being given the option of a fast enclosed elevator with no windows to the top of a mountain over a sedate cable car, open to views... both take similar effort yet who's achieving the best experience once they reach the top?
The person who's not watched the the world pass by and enjoyed it or the one who JUST see's the view from the top? The guy in the cable car will still see the top yet the person who took the fastest route will never experience 90% of the wonder of the journey.
Its a point of view ... am I too old to understand why someone would take that fast elevator?
Looking at achievement/trophy counts and player stats on PC/console, most players don't have their maps at full clear. Most are missing at least 1-2 encounters, with many missing more. Intel collection goes the same way, but at a higher rate. Again, the content is there, but unplayed.
My map is empty...all encounters completed, all intel gained, all missions defeated. When I join others for a daily mission or a challenge run for pxc, I have YET to see my map remain that way. I'm talking about many hundreds of runs, and not one instance of a party with FULL clears. Perhaps 3 of the players have completed them all, and only one hasn't...I can't tell that, but the stats agree that it's a majority that hasn't cleared it all yet.
Even you, who wants more story, more area to explore, admittedly hasn't taken the time to digest whats there already, and perhaps that speaks more about this than I ever could.
(The stats don't swing at all from console to PC either. Virtually identical.)
I agree with your point of view, but I recognize that it's an older one...one that seems to have fallen out of favor with the vast majority of gamers.
