Quest givers

These world characters could add a significant amount of secondary quests to zones. The nature of Quest givers would be that they are coded to follow a daily routine based on their class. E.g. A swordsman would start their day at the keep working at the forge, then after a certain time go to the stable to collect their horse; they then set out on a patrol first of the town, then outside in the surrounding country-side.

Players interaction with these characters could occur at any point along their path. And sometimes their responses would be simple interactions, while at other times a quest is unlock. The quest giver always will direct the player to the towns local constabulary for pickup/ completion, so there’s no fear that the players would get lost.
Also, what could add depth to the Quest givers is that each zone has several seasonal characters which are not always around. The idea is that characters, with new stories are always popping around with different tales of new adventures they were on, and now need your help with.

Dailies

More dailies could be added to every zone in the game, unlocked through CP. This would encourage people to go back to older zones for a reason.

Another way to attract people to the zones would be through means of the writ system.

Perhaps sometimes players could be given a bonus if they hand the writ in at a specified town or location. While they could still just hand in the writ wherever they are, if they choice to visit the writ location, they could get a small +1 writ, for example.
For extra bonus, like +5 writs, they could be asked to completed a small mission e.g. “Go fetch me 10x Mudcrab Chitin”
The point is everything in regards to the reward is by choice, and effort – and you get people to play the game more meaningfully than by simply clicking a button.

But, it still allows for people who just want to hand-in the writ with no extra effort or reward.

Gardner/ Miner/ Forester

This could be a new form of NPC character which the player could purchase then assign to their home.
The helper system would be a form of workstation where one would harvest seeds from Reagents, saplings from trees, & crystal from rock. Once assigned to the helper, they would go off and do their thing.

After a given period the player would then have access to a harvest node like with what the survey maps provide, just from their homes!