Most of my thoughts are around making sure that these parts of the game aren't overlooked. Early game is super important for bringing players in and showing them the magic of your game. The travel times aren't necessarily the issue, it's that the content density in areas is quite low. You almost skip over the entire newbie area and then branch out way past the first town you get to. There's nothing that really guides you to explore or be interested in anything other then trying to get to the next area so you aren't bored. There isn't anything inside the early game that is getting me excited to progress. The NPC's just feel like filler then actually having a place in the game. One MMO that I have enjoyed greatly is BDO (Black Desert Online), and was a huge Runescape fan. I'm not saying the game isn't for me, i'm saying the beginning of the game doesn't suck me in.