@Duainfey I disagree. The world is exactly this interesting. Most of it goes unnoticed but if we go by equivalents everything he has done is perfectly reasonable. Somewhere out there someone is suffering and you could save them if you knew how. Somewhere out there are rare and valuable objects which you could find if you knew where and what they are.
If you pay attention to the world around you, you will find all sorts of interesting things. Of course interesting or valuable of also relative so if your talking about magic swords its obvious you won't find them lying around in a world without that kind of magic. The shards of that broken shield he found valuable are a perfect example. He knew its worth and picked it up. Just like finding a piece of scrap on the side of the road and knowing its actually not garbage.
Anyway the world is exactly this interesting if not more so than shown. I mean he has a damn world book so if anything he should be seeing more than this. Worlds a big place.