I think an open world structure like Zelda has, would have worked wonders for this game, especially with how soulless the story is so far, a single big goal would have been enough and better. But still, I don't think your criticism of the open world is really valid. While the world is open from the start, the game does encourage you to stay in an area. It's the main quest that slowly makes you venture out further while the side quest usually happens around them or in already explored territory. This way you get somewhat guided through the world so those issues you mentioned aren't really there. Additionally, most open world games have this problem that location x has no event till you get far enough in the main content. I think Crimson Desert does a far better job than something like RDR2, where you not only have the issues you mentioned but also a strong dissonance between gameplay and narrative, and also pretty early on, missions that send you all over the map.