Honestly, what maintains interest in this game is the animal hunting. This goes for everyone I talk to - it's the first issue that crops up and the only one they repeatedly complain about when we play. There is a work around, currently, but not having anything to hunt does not shift my interest into other portions of the game. Rather, it just turns me away from it altogether. Having that choice taken does not increase interest in other areas. I LIKE seeing animals and deciding I would prefer do a mission. Or actually having something to do during slow portions of a mission.
You know it's bad when your friends won't play the game because there's nothing to do while they wait for stuff to get done.