Map travel was free in GW1. The zones did have a lot of invisible walls and arbitrarily unclimbable slopes that were frustrating. But if you were in a zone like that, you’d never run into anyone, cuz there was no persistent common world.
Here in GW2, waypoints are a money sink, which is essential for economic health. Maybe the costs of waypoints are sufficient to encourage players to walk when they might otherwise map travel. For me, there are zones I enjoy walking through. I will happily walk to CM-ex, for example, because I like the feel of the zone.
But to the accusation pointed toward me above: No, GW1 is no longer the game for me, because it’s old fashioned and clunky. Back in the day it was only a little old-fashioned.
The idea of making travel take a long time to make the world seem large is also old-fashioned.
