Sometimes I just reread the flavor text on all the items and ingredients in the games. A good fanfic author does the same thing and expands those tiny snippets into full stories. Who farmed these herbs? Who processed this monster fluid into a potion? That's the untold village life right there.
I've always been disappointed that Elder Dragons are sometimes just 'supernatural disaster events' with little personality. Great stories take a monster like Vaal Hazak and explore its role in the ecosystem as a passive, spreading recycler of death, not just a boss to fight. Maybe from the perspective of a researcher slowly succumbing to Effluvium while studying it, realizing the monster isn't malicious—it's just existing, and its existence is inherently corrosive to other life. That kind of tragic, ecological horror adds layers the game can only hint at during a 15-minute hunt.
The research quests are a goldmine for plot! Instead of fighting, the objective is to observe, gather tracks, or photograph. This forces a completely different kind of story—stealth, patience, and scientific curiosity. The conflict comes from avoiding combat, navigating treacherous terrain quietly, and the tension of nearly being discovered. It adapts the quieter, often skipped parts of the game into a main narrative, showcasing a different side of the Hunter's Guild's work.