So what a exactly happened in relation to Shadowlands?

[epigramx]

Give a too long;didn't read for us who don't pay that much attention to deep lore. The cinematic and the intro quests start with basically a "WE GONNA GO TO DRAGON ISLES TO HELP 'CAUSE WE MUST ALRIGHT?"; so I wonder if it's just a 'soft reset' of everything; is it a story that could be basically almost the same at its core if it happened right after Vanilla?

[Civciv]

Give a too long;didn't read for us who don't pay that much attention to deep lore. The cinematic and the intro quests start with basically a "WE GONNA GO TO DRAGON ISLES TO HELP 'CAUSE WE MUST ALRIGHT?"; so I wonder if it's just a 'soft reset' of everything; is it a story that could be basically almost the same at its core if it happened right after Vanilla?

Wait for pre-patch. We'll learn more about why we need to go there and help the Aspects.

[Nymrohd]

Primalists release Raszageth, the Aspects arrive and realize they cannot take her without their Aspect power, Alex sends us to Uldaman to recover information on how they can do that. On why we need to stop Raszageth, she wants to undo the work of the Titans which pretty much means returns the planet to a pure elemental state which very much would kill all civilization on Azeroth as they are.

[Lochton]

Give a too long;didn't read for us who don't pay that much attention to deep lore. The cinematic and the intro quests start with basically a "WE GONNA GO TO DRAGON ISLES TO HELP 'CAUSE WE MUST ALRIGHT?"; so I wonder if it's just a 'soft reset' of everything; is it a story that could be basically almost the same at its core if it happened right after Vanilla?

Eh, you're not on the right page there, Dragonflight is not in connection to what has happened in the Shadowlands, I believe Dragonflight is in connection to older content as well as the fact that a large quantity of our "champions" was sent to the Shadowlands to handle problems there, ignoring the ones growing at home. Dragonflight is about going home. The heroes are home on Azeroth now, and the Dragons are going home too.

Sadly, Shadowlands is written so badly (well?) that it can be completely taken out of the loop as long as you remember the following things from a story, and roleplay perspective.

1.: There is no Lich King anymore, Bolvar is still the Death Knight's leader.
2.: The Scourge are not contained or controlled anymore, they are loose and dangerous.
3.: Anduin is missing due to a conflict of interest as he during his control, took enjoyment in harming the champions and his friends. He is now trying to figure himself out.
4.: Calia and others have formed a council in running Undercity and its people.
5.: Undercity is in the progress of being cleaned.
6.: The council is taking to the discussion about leaving Gilneas to its people, with Calia's blessing.
7.: Vol'jin is the new Loa of Kings, and is awaiting rebirth.
8.: The rift is sealed.
9.: The Dreadlords will be a continued issue.
10.: Brokers have been visiting Azeroth many times before we met them.
11.: Sylvanas has been dealt with, and is whole.
12.: Sylvanas has been judged, and convicted to an eternity in the Maw, looking for every soul wrongfully sent there, as well as looking for her dearest Nathanos.
13.: There are creatures stronger than the Titans.
14.: The Light can wage war on any plane of the cosmos as they see fit.
15.: When we die, we go to the Shadowlands where we may either wait for assessment or be sent directly to rebirth.
16.: Ursoc had to skip the rebirth queue, he won't be back for a while.
17.: Ysera is on hold due to an unfortunate trade between her position and that of Malfurion, she is on standby until that questline gets more activity.
18.: The Drust can travel between realms via Thros.

I may have missed something but this is the average list I share with people if they want a quick catch-up from Shadowlands, commonly many have skipped it, or views of roleplay, these explains it too.

[Myrthrall]

9.: The Dreadlords will be a continued issue.
10.: Brokers have been visiting Azeroth many times before we met them.
13.: There are creatures stronger than the Titans.

Is this basically a summary of the last 2 patches? Because all of that really lost my interest

[Lochton]

Is this basically a summary of the last 2 patches? Because all of that really lost my interest

Number 9, you learn through Korthia and forward, where they take Remornia with the Sire within and flee.
Number 10, is something you learn from the start of the expansion and then into the mega-dungeon, that they travel where they see a value of interest.
Number 13, I can't recall but we find out that even the Titans have makers.

[Hitei]

Eh, you're not on the right page there, Dragonflight is not in connection to what has happened in the Shadowlands, I believe Dragonflight is in connection to older content as well as the fact that a large quantity of our "champions" was sent to the Shadowlands to handle problems there, ignoring the ones growing at home. Dragonflight is about going home. The heroes are home on Azeroth now, and the Dragons are going home too.

Sadly, Shadowlands is written so badly (well?) that it can be completely taken out of the loop as long as you remember the following things from a story, and roleplay perspective. .

"Shadowlands is written so badly/well that it can be complete taken out of the loop as long as you ignore a large number of direct effects it had" is some really faulty logic.

[Myrthrall]

Number 9, you learn through Korthia and forward, where they take Remornia with the Sire within and flee.
Number 10, is something you learn from the start of the expansion and then into the mega-dungeon, that they travel where they see a value of interest.
Number 13, I can't recall but we find out that even the Titans have makers.

I see, thanks for further breaking it down for me.

[Lochton]

"Shadowlands is written so badly/well that it can be complete taken out of the loop as long as you ignore a large number of direct effects it had" is some really faulty logic.

Maybe but that is the view many have, especially among roleplayers, that the game's main story is crap but it is so well written that you can ignore the outcome of it because the only visible thing Shadowlands has done to our home, is set the Scourge free, give a king doubts in himself, and another king dethroned.

[Hitei]

Maybe but that is the view many have, especially among roleplayers, that the game's main story is crap but it is so well written that you can ignore the outcome of it because the only visible thing Shadowlands has done to our home, is set the Scourge free, give a king doubts in himself, and another king dethroned.

It altered the governing structure of two major nations, altered the control structure of the Scourge, brought back a dragon aspect, removed the Night Warrior, redefined the context of the entire cosmic balance, purified a destroyed zone, brought new knowledge and magics to Azeroth, created at least two new potential world ending threats, a new faction we're likely to see again without stepping foot back in the Shadowlands, established a terrifying new method of attack used by the Drust, created a new very important Loa, gave us the first very serious indication of Elune's position, power scope and intention.

What exactly are you looking for for an expansion to be "visible"? Is Wrath a throwaway expansion because Cataclysm didn't directly extrapolate from a Northrend narrative thread? If a roleplayer has the view "it didn't change anything" tbh, they are sort of a shit roleplayer, the experience of being able to spend a year in the realms of death alone opens up an insane amount of canonical possibilities for roleplay, even without involving the changes in politics or theology and understanding of the universe.

[Aucald]

This isn't the subforum for either in-depth lore or Shadowlands discussion, but you can find what you're looking for here. Closing this.