There are still areas in the desert that are unpopulated and could contain other content.

f.  There are canyons and semi-underground areas between Valencia and the Gahaz Bandits.

2.  There is an underground area northeast (I don't recall how far) of Tritium Valley in a large cleft in the ground that was pretty unpopulated.  (I haven't been tere for a while, but I doubt anything has changed.)

3.  There is an area near Tanatoz (halfway between Titium Valley and Pila Fe Jail) through a tunnel that looks like a planned expansion that never materialized..

4.  There is the area north of Valencia and the channel that could be expanded.

5.  Of course, there is the desert itself.  Anything can be placed underground there.  I'm waiting for Dune-inspired sandworms.

Sometimes, I think the devs have lost track of the areas for content expansion.

Precisely, this isn't just a problem with the desert but the broader game world, we journey to and from specific grindspots using the same corridors, we don't stray off those corridors to explore because it slows us down from going to and from those grindspots because the incentive to roam freely isn't there. That's exactly what the Footsteps of the Adventures idea was supposed to challenge - A set of randomised quests that take you off the beaten track with a party (or not), to explore and be rewarded for it, anywhere in the world.

I know the cleft you mention, I remember seeing one npc down there and a dead end, I feel like it may be something to do with Hystria?

I toyed with the idea of a network of catacombs running underneath the whole of the desert from valencia to sand grain bazaar and I did hope Atoraxxion would be that kinda deal. Seamlessly integrated into each other, running from one dungeon to the next until you reach the last one, and exit on the other side of the desert.

The random encounters and protect the pilgrim sanctuaries ideas were to further add interest to the flatter areas of the desert, and one of the foes encountered here could definitely be some kind of serpent or sand worm type creature. If they ever did incorporate something like that, I'd hope the enemies would be intimidating, exciting and rewarding. Like you're really facing down a looming threat together. 

This would be amazing. I'm really sad that Valencia is dead content.

The forum is the place where all the good ideas go to die, sadly. I mean, if we look at the Land of the Morning Light, which was promised to offer boss fights for both single players and groups... Well, yeah! If it takes more than planting some plastic trees in a region and, let's not forget, adding random and pointless cooldowns, then it's too much effort. Point being, PA can't develop the content they themselves want without stripping it down to bare bones...

Really nice ideas otherwise!

Well thank you for keeping the conversation going. It's a shame the Land of Morning Light isn't what people were hoping for. 

Yesterday I went to activate some nodes that'd escaped my attention all the way north east by Ivero Cliff and once again I was filled with both excitement and disappointment that I'd went all that way, discovered something new all these years later, but with nothing to do there except tell myself I've been there.