ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

It's this place where nothing happens, other than fighting some easy enemies, entering the portal and getting the ritch stinger ingredients. One floor's enough to get the point across. Between the Prides, the Charred Scar setpiece and the Slime Tunnels/High Peak, the East has enough mandatory zones for gameplay challenges and lore exploration, so rather than redesigning the desert it can just become a shorter speedbump.

what if they just bumped up the area level of eruan instead?

It’s a break from the Prides that otherwise dominate time in the East, so it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Part of the issue is that it’s not a particularly threatening area. Maybe include some guaranteed randboss spawns on some of the Ritch? They’re really easy otherwise.