No I think the reason was in the prequels to force a connection and remind people they are watching Star Wars more "fan service". I really did not care for the prequels, and to me it did the opposite of "developing" Vader. It created a whiny brat, who happened to turn into a dark evil lord for the Empire. 
But that's fine you see it that way. I would never scream in anger if they went back, but go to new worlds, let's see new things. Wasting time to go back to a lot of the planets is too much of fan-service, and it can come off bad and cheesy at times. If done right and it really connects to the story, fine, if it does not don't fan service things.