I feel like the reason Warlords is also falling so flat (story-wise) is b/c there’s no risk or emotion? Especially considering characters, at least. Velen dies? Oh, okay – it’s just AU Velen, no big. Doomhammer’s dead? Eh, so is ours. Etc.
Sure, it’d really blow if this Draenor got destroyed, but our Draenor is already destroyed, so what does it matter? It’s not “ours.”Whereas the emotional significance of the Vale – our Vale – was devestating when Garrosh destroyed it. SoO ran on for too long – that’s hardly inarguable – but it had emotional significance. Nazgrim, the Klaxxi, the end-cutscene, etc… not to mention, in general, Pandaria was a new place that we ended up destroying, with new, “real" characters: the mantid, Chen Stormstout, the Golden Lotus (who all pretty much died!), Taran Zhu, etc. Then we had Anduin and his story arc, and Wrathion’s, too. We got connected to them, and I think it’s difficult to get connected to the WoD characters because they just don’t matter as much because they’re AUs. MoP was risky and it was emotional.
And Warlords just isn’t. Because it’s a repeat of history. We know what’s going to happen, more or less, and it doesn’t matter if AU Draenor, or its AU versions of character, dies.
Khadgar is fun, but there’s only so much of this story he can hold on his shoulders. Idk.