As a note to you Saruman, im not bieng hostile but also as a note your example needs to be reconsidered.
Blizzard onpurposley tried to get the devs to make the guards have those stupidly exaggerated pauldrons and Khadgar and Medivhs armor was initally meant to be SINGIFINCALTY more over the top.
So in other words, what your seeing is a budget problem, not a realism problem.
They were meant to be *alot* more flashy than that.
Im sorry to tell you this but this is a world that Ion Hazzocoastas himself was asked about recently in an interview with Jessie Cox regarding how crazy he wanted the fantasy in wow to go, and his answer was:
"World of Warcraft is a High Fantasy with swords, and magic, but it also borrows from a number of other genres, such as science fiction with space ships, space travel and other worlds."
He basically said outright that *realism* doesnt exist in this mythos. Now if you want to look like, and roleplay an expendable peasant that will get 1 shot by the first death knight that comes their way, you're welcome to it.
But dont complain when thats exactly what you are to people around you, expendable fodder.