I have wandered around some of the new town scenes when TW adds a new town scene. It is a mixed feelings experience of "wow, this looks so cool" plus "why is there nothing worthwhile doing here?" For example, you can talk to beggars and they ask you for charity, but you can't pay them.
Village scenes seem totally pointless, both nothing to do and no interesting sights. I never go to villages, and rarely castles (outside sieges ofc).
I have noticed something by going to taverns, though: you can ask the tavern maid for a meal, pay money, and then ask again to ask to feed it to your men. If you do, it will increase party morale by 2. So that's a nice little touch.
That's the sort of thing which there should be more of in towns, castles and villages. Optional gameplay elements that give you an actual reason to explore these meticulously detailed scenes.
* Companions with better stats who can be found standing in random locations
* "Bargain" traders at the market who are offering good prices for certain items (gain trade XP for finding them)
* "Luxury" traders who sell items shops don't normally have, such as crowns
* Sick people you can heal to gain medicine skill and progress your Mercy trait
* Expert skill masters who can train you or your companions in a certain skill for a price (eg: crossbow trainer in Pravend, archery trainer in Quyaz, engineering teacher in Lageta)
* The ability to give money to beggars to progress your Generosity trait