Once the rentable/ crossplay servers come out, trying to keep people interested in the game long enough to keep a server going is important. Those on console a lot of players got gyros then got bored and quit from what I’ve seen. So by allowing us as the server owners this option, it will help to cut back on that and keep players more engaged for a longer period of time, so we aren’t constantly cycling new players.
There are going to be a lot of new players who will get bored because this isn't the type of game they like. Changing how vehicles work will not change that. It is the same, whether you are talking about new PC or console players.
This game is not really a game designed for exploration. It isn't a game where you can find unique things or items by exploring all the nooks and crannies like you can in many other games. Everything can be found in any single town, other than that not all POI will be in a single town. So you have no reason to explore. This game isn't for players who want to explore. You can do so (I do), but it is for other reasons than those people are used to. You explore just because you enjoy the terrain details and you like going to different POI around the map. But other than that, you just go to whatever biome you want to be in and you can simply stay there. Players who want more than that aren't going to find it in this game at this time.
The weather update may improve that, though it will still not change exploration more than just seeing how each biome is different, which you learn in one game and then it doesn't change. The story might (maybe) give you a reason to travel around a bit, though I expect it to be a pretty minor part of the game and not really matter overall. It certainly won't increase exploration. At most, it will just get you to travel to different towns/biomes to progress the story, but not to explore.
For people to really get that exploration "need" met in this game, they pretty much need to play only on hand-crafted maps and likely use mods as well (something not available for console). There is at least one map out there that I am aware of that has special things hidden here and there around the map to make exploration more interesting. I think it's still not going to be what such players want, but it's about as close as you're likely to see in this game.
However, not all players are focused on exploration. Many players are interested in the gameplay mechanics that we have in this game. Things like building bases, mining, killing zombies (and eventually bandits, though I have my doubts about those being a good addition to the game), etc. And the steady increase in the number of active players shows that there are plenty of players who enjoy what the game has to offer. Those are the players who will stick around.
Focusing on players who don't enjoy what the game has to offer is not worthwhile. Changing or removing gyros wouldn't really change whether or not those players get bored. Maybe they'd get bored a little more slowly because it takes longer to get around the map once before they realize it isn't the right game for them, but they'll still get bored.
And, unfortunately, in the end, this game will be played more by PC players than console players for long term gameplay. The game has some great replay value compared to just about any game out there, but to get the number of hours that most PC players have requires the access to mods to keep things interesting and different as they can change things from game to game. That won't ever change unless console players get access to mods, which is very unlikely thanks to Sony and Microsoft. So in a couple of years, if you compare the average hours of gameplay for console players who started with 1.0 and PC players who started with 1.0, I am almost positive that you will see the PC player gameplay average being significantly higher than the average for console players (like by something like 5-10x or more) simply because they have access to mods. That isn't to say the game without mods is bad, but that people like having options and mods provide that. Lacking options to change up the game now and then leads to boredom far more quickly. I'd like to be wrong, but I doubt I will be. I've seen too much of this game and games in general since PCs first came out to expect any other result.
Considering the price increases on consoles that are coming (at least for PS), I wouldn't be surprised to see more gamers switch to PC within the next 5-10 years anyhow. I mean, when Sony is essentially calling their players too stupid to figure out a PC* as a way of saying that they should just pay the high prices instead of getting a PC, you're not far off from people considering the change to be worthwhile. Especially considering so many console players claim that the reason they don't have a PC is because it's too expensive and now you'll be able to get a pretty decent PC for less than the cost of a new console.
* To explain what Sony said about their users, they didn't actually call their players stupid, but they said that computers are difficult to set up. Considering most computers are already set up and ready to use and most people know how to use computers these days, that is basically saying their users are stupid even if they didn't word it that way. Just my interpretation, of course.
