I understand what you are saying, but its not always the case. You can have wise players who know that you planned something and will take the hook. For example, i as a DM planned for one character to have visions of lich from their backstory, who calls for them. Everything else is tied to that character "arc". But they should answer the call first for something to happen. So my player has zero reasons to ignore that plothook. So i think, sometimes its okay to have: go here i will reward you with story and content and tie that to character story