Aw man, I’m a bit jelly of where you’re at - you’ve got a tonne to still explore!
I started in earnest in winter of 2021-2022 (I’ll leave out 2018-2019 when I did 700km in Zwift…on a rowing machine) and have run the whole gamut - workouts, group rides, events, tours, challenges, badges.
If I may humbly suggest checking out the Resource Wiki:
You’ll find a lot of good stuff there.
Suggestions:
- select the Everest Challenge right forking now! Your elevation gains are not credited retroactively if you don’t select it
- listen to the whole ZwiftCast back catalog while riding. It took me a season to get through it and I learned a tonne about the game and the community (including etiquette)
- badge hunting - aim for some threshold distance and/or elevation per week, maybe doing a couple of rides in a row if it’s a short route. ZI did a post on getting them all in 12-weeks. (I have not done the final five yet)
- try the tutorial workout(s) - they’re fairly easy and a good primer
- ZwiftMap.com is amazing for examining whole routes. Links offsite to ZwiftInsider route details for vids, pics, and more narrative
- go Easter Egg hunting - find new ones and share with the group!
RE: connectivity issues, it’s really great that Zwift will “run on a potato”. I started with an iPhone, went Android, PC, iPad, gaming PC, and now use an AppleTV almost exclusively because “it just works.” If your setup is working well now, cool. If you ever get so fed up with it you feel like quitting, try either an iPad or ATV first. It’s a step down in graphic richness but rather frictionless.
To directly answer your question: some of the above are distractions or tools but my motivation is badge-hunting and exploring - Zwift feels like an open-world MMORPG.
Ride On!