In that case, you have 5 expansions (of similar length to ARR) and each of their 5 patch stories. Each expansion is designed as if it's a "whole new game" (in the developers' words). But it's one giant, continuous story.
It's a story-driven game, so be prepared for more of that. That is how this game is. If you can't endure lots and lots of cutscenes for the MSQ and to unlock every single game feature, dungeon, trial, raid, then you'll struggle even at the end of the game when new patches release.So far it has been like watching a really slow movie.
This is common in ARR and in patches (and patches are what you are doing, these used to be max level quests). While inside an expansion, you often stick to one area mostly and "walk through the land gradually", but once the expansion's story is done, they often teleport you around to different locations for the patches and that's what you're experiencing. It's worse in ARR itself because the story is divided between 3 city states that are quite far apart.I am trying to get through the ARR end game story and it is literally moving from one location to another and watching dialog.
Generally, these stories are the build up and context for these fights. They will usually be a solo instance, a 10-minute trial or a 20-minute dungeon (but they may be faster in some cases, due to gear increases and how the gear syncs in it).Then I get a 5 minute fight with a Primal.
Yes, although the fight designs will be different. Most people would say the fights themselves get cooler, but it depends what sort of fight design you prefer ultimately, since that changes over time.Is it going to be like this until I hit level 100?
They do add more voice acting later but there are always parts that are unvoiced, and almost all sidequests in the game are unvoiced. They did also learn things from the level 50 quests, since the game was new then and they were throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks, so they did try to make it less painful to do quests, but ultimately it's still "going around and talking to people", so the only way to enjoy it is to soak it in and imagine yourself in the story they are trying to tell.