Should patch new zones have quest for story purposes?

[Mikhas]

So what I feel BfA missed was storytelling in the new zones, Nazjatar and Mechagon only served as hub for dailies but we never got to do quest explaining the lore about the zone, Nazjatar was a long-forgotten elf city, and we didn't get to do anything except for 2 or 3 quests that were not mandatory for unlocking the essences. I thought about each zone must have a lengthy campaign to explore the story and get to know new characters in these zones. Mechagon was made for exploration but all the story happens in the introduction quest, mega-dungeon, and in the mecha-gnomes recruitment quest, that's it no more story for the mecha-gnomes.

One idea I got was a quest about a family reuniting after 10000 years, the mother was converted to a naga by queen Azshara, the brother was studying in Suramar at the time of the war of the ancients, so he turned into a Nightborne, the sister was fighting the legion and eventually turned into a night elf. The factions get the quest by talking to the brother (horde) or the sister (alliance) and they get to fight their mother. Then their mother recognizes them and they talk about all they have been through. We get some details about the naga, whether they are blindly following queen Azshara by loyalty or they still are the same elves that died during the burning legion invasion, and also we get to know more about their transformation and what has Nazjatar became.

Questing is the way blizzard should expand the lore in their game, you expend almost the majority of your time questing in the game, but they almost never do max level questing (except Suramar and Argus), I think this could make patches look bulkier and make zones feel like an actual zone and not another hub island filled with world quest, catch-up mechanics and rares to kill. It's an RPG, questing, and storytelling must be one of the pillars of the game next to gameplay.

[Thage]

I mean, I'm always down for max-level questlines offering story progression; the meatier the better. It's the one thing Classic does that I resoundingly want brought back. Imagine if 8.3 brought with it a quest chain on par with the Fallen Hero of the Horde quest chain, showing the effects of N'zoth's awakening all around Azeroth and not just in two (thankfully revitalized) zones.

[Mikhas]

How it looked like Blizzard didn't want to waste resources in 8.3 I didn't consider it, also haven't played 8.3, but it looks like the only story in the patch is the introduction quest (2 hours) and then the raid. Happy to see they reused older zones thought but still a long way to make the world feel alive.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Questing is the way blizzard should expand the lore in their game, you expend almost the majority of your time questing in the game, but they almost never do max level questing (except Suramar and Argus), I think this could make patches look bulkier and make zones feel like an actual zone and not another hub island filled with world quest, catch-up mechanics and rares to kill. It's an RPG, questing, and storytelling must be one of the pillars of the game next to gameplay.

^^^

When a new patch for FFXIV drops, I am disappointed that we don't get new quests outside of the main story. It feels like the bulk of the lore comes from the X.0 content drop with all of the new zones and quests, and then once I do them all... there's only the main story updates until the next expansion.

One of the things I liked about WoW is how the new zones had new quests and questlines. The Firelands came with a lengthy questline. Throne of Thunder had a questline (but no sidequests, though ). Argus felt like a questing zone and I loved it. What disappointed me the most was when a new patch came and it didn't really bring new quests.

[Mikhas]

^^^

One of the things I liked about WoW is how the new zones had new quests and questlines. The Firelands came with a lengthy questline. Throne of Thunder had a questline (but no sidequests, though ). Argus felt like a questing zone and I loved it. What disappointed me the most was when a new patch came and it didn't really bring new quests.

8.3 looks too shallow, it's got things to do but not actual storyline apart from the intro, and almost all is repetitive content. Hopefully, Blizzard learns from BfA the same way they learned from WoD, and make a good next expansion.

[Tang0]

So what I feel BfA missed was storytelling in the new zones, Nazjatar and Mechagon only served as hub for dailies but we never got to do quest explaining the lore about the zone, Nazjatar was a long-forgotten elf city, and we didn't get to do anything except for 2 or 3 quests that were not mandatory for unlocking the essences. I thought about each zone must have a lengthy campaign to explore the story and get to know new characters in these zones. Mechagon was made for exploration but all the story happens in the introduction quest, mega-dungeon, and in the mecha-gnomes recruitment quest, that's it no more story for the mecha-gnomes.

One idea I got was a quest about a family reuniting after 10000 years, the mother was converted to a naga by queen Azshara, the brother was studying in Suramar at the time of the war of the ancients, so he turned into a Nightborne, the sister was fighting the legion and eventually turned into a night elf. The factions get the quest by talking to the brother (horde) or the sister (alliance) and they get to fight their mother. Then their mother recognizes them and they talk about all they have been through. We get some details about the naga, whether they are blindly following queen Azshara by loyalty or they still are the same elves that died during the burning legion invasion, and also we get to know more about their transformation and what has Nazjatar became.

Questing is the way blizzard should expand the lore in their game, you expend almost the majority of your time questing in the game, but they almost never do max level questing (except Suramar and Argus), I think this could make patches look bulkier and make zones feel like an actual zone and not another hub island filled with world quest, catch-up mechanics and rares to kill. It's an RPG, questing, and storytelling must be one of the pillars of the game next to gameplay.

Do you want quests or do you want lore? Cause if it’s lore - it’s there. It’s just based on the premise, that you have consumed the lore, given to you prior to any given point. Lore regarding nazjatar has been in the game since Warcraft 3(maybe 2?) expanded in azhara zone quests, little bits available all the way through expansions since vanilla. Quite a bit expanded in legion. By the time you get there - you’re supposed to know the gist.

Same with, for example, Uldum. We’ve been getting pieces of lore on it since 2004, culminating in zone release during Cata, with a lengthy quest line taking you throughout the zone.

Mechagone is a bit of special standalone spinoff, but even it had some ties to the lore of the curse of flesh and some explanations regarding the the civil mecha war.

So the lore is there, if you want it. You go to see the new Star Wars movie or Tolkien movie and you don’t go to forums to feel bummed that “there could be more lore about that Tatooine planet they showed, they sure skimped on that”. Well, there’s tons of lore on freaking tatooine floating around if you want it.

If you’re just bummed down because of questing - people are seldom fans of max lvl quests if those give no gain in the long run, like a rep bonus, or some unlock, so guess it’s not feasible from development perspective.

[Mikhas]

So the lore is there, if you want it. You go to see the new Star Wars movie or Tolkien movie and you don’t go to forums to feel bummed that “there could be more lore about that Tatooine planet they showed, they sure skimped on that”. Well, there’s tons of lore on freaking tatooine floating around if you want it.

It's true that the lore is there and what I really want is questing but that doesn't mean you don't need to add more lore and interesting storylines to the new zones or expansions. If the zone is just to move the main story along then it's just a wasted zone.