TheSword
Legend
To my mind the problem is not the writers assuming whether players will engage with the specific content of the campaign… but more assuming that the interaction will go the way they predict..The better WotC campaigns assume less, IMO.
For Instance - there is an assumption in one of the campaigns that the players will go to the underworld. The writers should then take into account for several different approaches and outcomes to the players interaction there.
There is a tension here - Predicting one singular approach is bad. Wasting paper anticipating and commenting on every possibly wacky interaction is also bad. There has to be a happy medium - freedom to act but an assumption that the players are engaging with the campaign and not wanting to watch the world burn as mentioned above.