Except they are not as widely spaced out. You never see this kind of emptiness in any of the footage so far:

I'm glad the world will be so big. Maybe it can have random events in areas like Skyrim had. You might walk on a road, and meet a woman who lost her purse. Your friend walks on the same road, doesn't find the woman, but a little ways ahead he finds an old knight looking for a challenging fight, and winning might earn a different type of arrow that you wouldn't get until later in the game.
I like exploring, finding a hidden house with a character in need of help. How you help them changes something in the game. We really have no idea what will be in this game. They have many months to add things. Any area we have seen may only have half of the planned content for said area. RELAX.

Yes, and do you see that small silhouette of an island in the background? Now, imagine instead of water there were grass and instead of the boat that instead you were riding on Epona. Now, also imagine that there were trees and more terrain anomalies on top of that. Now does that mean that there's another point of interest beyond where that island is? Or is there just more window dressing between you and that island?

Not saying that I would prefer the Great Sea again over the new Hyrule Field, just that as the OP pointed out, they will effectively be the same thing. And I'm okay with that.

Terrain variation is not window dressing, it affects gameplay, just like a maze is different to a corridor.

But a maze is comprised of corridors. I don't even know what you're trying to say with that comment.

And either way the point still stands, terrain difference is minimal in that getting to your point of interest is still going be relied on by some kind of vehicle. Just because you're running on horse back to your POI vs sailing, isn't going to make the experience any more or less fun. Do you not get that running around to your POI isn't going to make the experience any more fun? The island is still going to be that distance away no matter what. 

No offense, but if you can't see that mountains, cliffs, bodies of water are not just a graphical flourish, then we are not going to be able to have this conversation.

Edit: I was out of line with this comment, belated apologies.

You clearly don't understand how these terrain differences are used as pacing within the game and clearly can't understand basic map or level design.

It sounds like you want to bow out of the argument because you can't grasp these basic concepts I've just walked you through, and that's fine, but don't pretend that you've shown an understanding of the argument you're trying to reason against. You haven't even presented a coherent counter argument either and that's fine. If you want to bow out of the thread, go ahead, but don't misrepresent what I said to try and appear superior. That last part just makes you sound pathetic.

Moderated - Starcraft

And again, there are just as many areas in wind waker where you can't take your boat, with just as varied terrain, on the islands.

THANK YOU.

"Terrain doesn't affect gameplay" is an absurd statement.

Try walking a straight line across this: