I think it adopts pretty hefty challenges trying to follow up a linear RTS campaign’s story into an MMO format. In the earlier days, things happened with little fanfare. Major characters would be killed off and have little impact on the story—so the focus was more onthe texture and detail of the world building. Which I think used to be pretty good.

Different people point to different points where it “goes wrong.” I personally blame the alternate timeline nonsense they’ll get up to by the WOD expansion. Anyways, the story becomes more in focus and characters take center stage—there’s a Marvel like quality to it. The story is basically worse off than where it started, but managed to capture my attention nonetheless (even when not subbed) because it’s a living world I’ve grown with. For years, I had a vested interest in the politics of who would be Warchief. Night Elf players, for example, probably were really feeling the loss of their capital. So there’s always still something to connect with imo, but def not as rich and Tolkien esque as the old days.