First up, the purpose of EA isn't to draw in new players, it's to stress test game mechanics, bug fix, identify exploits, collect metadata, and get a feel for how the game will be received by different demographics in its current form.
A story is a story, and doesn't really fit any of those categories. Releasing more story in EA both devalues the end product to anyone in EA, and doesn't really hit any of those EA goals. The trick is to release just enough content to get the data you want, without revealing your whole hand.
As to why druid first: think of the implications of the class versus the others we are waiting on. From a point of view of assets and world interactions, Wildshape is a huge undertaking compared to Barbarian, Paladin, Monk, Sorcerer or Bard. These mostly involve new spells and skills added to an existing toolset.
Druid needs 7 completely new animation sets, balance assessments, whole conversations (such as shown with Scratch in camp, this goes beyond just a class flavour [DRUID] line) on TOP of the new spells and skills. Sadly, for this reason I expect Sorcerer last as whilst it PLAYS as a very different class, in terms of interaction with the game world it is virtually identical to Wizard. There just isn't as much to test.
Finally, as someone already mentioned, patch size is a function of data renewal rather than content. This is the last huge patch because future ones will be better optimized, not because they contain fewer changes.
Last edited by Elessaria666; 20/02/21 12:30 PM.
