Can Anyone Help Me Understand This Feedback I Received?

I’m looking for help understanding this feedback from a beta reader for my fantasy novel. They didn’t seem happy with the story, but I don’t understand what the main problems are. Any advice or insight is appreciated.<br><br>Also, please keep in mind that my novel is adult high fantasy, with a separate main story and side stories that interweave throughout the book. This is my first attempt at writing, and believe me it has been a long, hard process. I know my writing is full of mistakes, and I appreciate the time of my beta readers. Also, this is the first time I have ever put my work out for review. I’m not looking for compliments or apologies, I just want to write the best story I can and I believe critiques of my work are invaluable. I’ve never taken criticism well, and this is how I’m practicing.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>The beta:<br><br>* The world building is interesting and I like the idea of the gods and the factions. However, the world feels incomplete. I have no idea what the overall plot or conflict is in the story. The gods are the primary antagonists, but I have no clear impression of what they want and I don’t particularly view them as villains right now. Same thing with the factions and the cultists and the gods cultists. The factions should be more than just names and a color, they should have their own cultists and separate goals. <br>* I’m not sure why I should side with the gods cultists or the factions or the gods themselves. It’s clear that the gods want the new world to begin, and the cultists want the old world to continue. I get that the factions are at war with each other and with the cultists, but I don’t know what separate goals the factions have. I get separate images and separate cultists, but I don’t know what the factions want to achieve. Why would they want the world to end? Or be reborn? I don’t know what the separate goals of the cultists and the factions are. What side should I be on and what side am I supposed to hate? <br>* We don’t know what the consequences are for if the world isn’t reborn. We aren’t given any understanding of the war for the gods and the factions and the cultists. Why should I care about the world being reborn or not?<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Also, this is for the same novel, from a different beta reader:<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>* Right now, we don’t know who the people worshiped as gods are. We don’t know what their factions separate goals are. We don’t know what the stakes are for the war. We don’t know what the war is for. This is all part of the world building and right now, it’s all incomplete. I get that this is high fantasy, but we don’t have a cohesive explanation for the gods, cultists, and the separate factions right now and I don’t really have an impression of what the story is even about. <br>* I’m not sure what the stakes are for the war or what the consequences are if the world isn’t reborn. Can you be more specific on what will happen to the world if the rebirth doesn’t happen? What would happen if the rebirth does happen? What side should I be on and what side should I hate? We need a clear idea of what side is good and what side is evil at this point in the story, or at least which side we should oppose. Right now, the two main separate images are barely present for the first fifty chapters. We need a clear idea of their goals and which side we should support and which side we should oppose.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Thank you for reading! Any advice is greatly appreciated.<br><br>Edit: Thank you for all the feedback! The consensus seems to be that I’m showing too little information at a time and not giving enough context in each separate story. Also, I’m not giving the reader a clear choice of which side they should oppose, and I’m not setting up the stakes for the conflict. I’m going back through my side stories and I believe I need to make at least a couple significant changes, and probably include more of the conflict in the main story. This process is slow and difficult for me, as I’m trying to learn how to write a good story. I have to reread and reedit my work over and over again. I didn’t realize how much I suck at writing until I attempted to write a novel. Thank you for your help!