Anyway, I realized that the two continents feel very different.
See, the Zandalari Empire more or less only has real control over Zuldazar. Going to Nazmir or Vol'dun means going to a dangerous frontier. Now, Nazmir was apparently not too different from Zuldazar before the Cataclysm, but at this point both those zones feel like dangerous wilderness and haunted ruins. Zandalar also has more local races - the Vulpera and Sethrik populate Vol'dun, and indeed Vol'dun seems more like it has always been Sethrik territory, even though there are troll ruins throughout.
By contrast, all of Kul Tiras feels very much like a unified nation. One gets the sense that, prior to all the problems that have arisen in the years since Daelin died, it would probably not be too strange for someone to travel from Corlain to Boralus to Brennandam without fear. The only place that truly feels dangerous and out of the way is Freehold, a city run by pirates, but it's clear that most of those pirates are also Kul Tirans who just figured they could do better as criminals than legitimate sailors and marines.
On my Alliance characters, going to Zandalar doesn't actually feel that different from going to other regions. It's only when I find myself sneaking through the streets of Dazar'alor that it feels truly like I'm in someone else's territory. But on Horde characters, going to Kul Tiras feels very much like being behind enemy lines at all times, even if I'm riding down the Old Drust Road near Bridgeport.
The Alliance sees a lot more of the Horde in Kul Tiras than the Horde sees the Alliance in Zandalar. The invasion of Brennandam is surprising and brutal (there are people seemingly strung up on the walls of their homes) and a good chunk of the quests in Stormsong Valley involves taking the fight to the invading Horde forces (collectively it's one of the story chapters required for the quest achievement in the zone.) Yet it would not be too difficult for Horde players to not even realize the Alliance was there except for a few shipwreck survivors after the cinematic that plays when you arrive on the continent.
Zandalar's story is very much focused on the Uldir raid and building up to it. All three zones play into the raid's story, and until we can actually go in there, the Zandalar plot is in this dark place that remains unresolved.
Kul Tiras, by contrast, seems to be all tied up quite well by the time players finish the Siege of Boralus dungeon.
I imagine that the end of Uldir will give the Zandalari a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, and arguably closes out that story as well.
So what is left is the Alliance/Horde conflict.
We don't have anything like Suramar right now - while there is endgame quest content, it seems that the War Campaign (at least that for 8.0) is rather short - I only have one chapter left for it on my main character. So are they simply not doing such a long and involved story at the level cap this time around, or are they building up to it, to come out later?
Furthermore, we know that the next raid - or at least a nearby, upcoming raid that is supposed to be the first major raid of the expansion - will have us fight Azshara. Her connection to the Old Gods has been made very explicit with her Warbringers short. So where might we fight her?
I'll point out that it would be rather strange to not have a single raid on Kul Tiras, and given Azshara's somewhat more explicit influence on Kul Tiras than Zandalar, it could be that her raid takes place there to follow up Uldir.
Still, given that we've heard so often about Nazjatar, it seems to me that it would be rather odd for us not to see that place before we fight her.
Personally, I'm holding out hope for a Drust raid as a distinctly Kul Tiran instance. I think it's very likely we'll get new zones opening up over the course of BFA.
Nazjatar is the most likely, if you ask me, and unlike Kul Tiras or Zandalar, this will be hostile territory to both factions.
Then, given the fact that we've now "met" N'zoth through Azshara's short, I really have to wonder if Ny'alotha is going to be where this expansion ends. The K'thir in Stormsong Valley make references to the mysterious "circle" and also speak of Ny'alotha, which seems a strong hint that we're on our way there.
Of course, Ny'alotha's location is totally unknown - we generally think it's probably beneath the ocean, but beyond that, it's unclear. Consider, for example, that Y'shaarj was exactly where the Maelstrom was - it was Aman'thul tearing Y'shaarj out of the planet that created the Well of Eternity, which is now the Maelstrom. If Nazjatar is built out of the ruins of Zin-Azshari, as seems to be suggested, that would mean that Ny'alotha ought not to be too close to it - unless N'zoth moved into his former rival's territory.
Is Ny'alotha a city of the Black Empire? Is it N'zoth's prison? And finally, is it even on this plane?
Yogg-Saron was able to infect the Emerald Dream with the Nightmare, which N'zoth somehow took over from Yogg-Saron. Given that he was able to plant his corruption into the dream, is it possible that he has also done so within the Shadowlands?
I've been arguing that we're probably doing a Shadowlands expansion of some sort next, and it would be really interesting to see if N'zoth is connected to it in some kind of clever ploy.
These locations seem like logical additions to the game. I don't really know how the faction conflict will tie into that, but we shall see.
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