I'm choosing my covenant based on theme/RP/gear!

[Darsithis]

I went for theme, I love vampires and gothic look & feel, so it was Venthyr. They’re not the top for spriest, but they’re competitive.

[RobertMugabe]

Most of the top covenants also fit the theme very well of each class. Also the covenants are designed in a way that most classes will fit them just fine

[Rafoel]

I'm happy that you can play the game you want it. That's great!

But it's obvious that the vast majority of players in the game choose covenants based on what performs the best: https://wowranks.io/stats

Rogue is Night Fae/Kyrian

Priest is Venthyr

Warlock is Night Fae

Demon Hunter is Kyrian

Obviously these combinations are not picked based on RP. You're simply lying to yourself if you think the majority of players don't pick covenants based on performance. It's not only the top 1-2 % as people in here claimed it would be before SL launch.

The real "majority" of players doesn't even know what covenant gives best performance.

For most classes, even googling "best covenant" will redirect you to long guide that explains how different covenants are best for raids, m+ and PvP. Gets even more complicated when a player tends to heal in dungeons but dps in raids etc.

As for these specific examples:

1) Venthyr are all about nobility, and Necrolords are about power AND honor. Makes sense for rogues to NOT choose these covenants.

2) Less than 50% of priests are Venthyr? Besides, most popular priest class (blood elf) would naturally go Venthyr with its aesthetic.

3) Warlocks don't really fit Night Fae, but they don't fit Kyrian or Venthyr either. And Maldraxxus is just ugly. You can just as well go Night Fae.

4) Barely more than 50% is Kyrian, rest are spread Venthyr-Night Fae (nobody plays Necro as its the one example of absolutely unplayable class ability).

There is obviously a group of players that chooses purely ny performance, but in fact statistics prove they are in minority.

[Alvito]

Blizzard made the most thematic covenants to be the strongest in most cases. Easy way to fix stupid system without actually changing anything major.

At best that is true for 1 maybe 2 specs always leaving one out in the cold. Fae warlocks and frost DKs don't exactly fit, Venthyr enhance shammies, Kyrian DK and DH. There are several that don't match up at all. It is a silly system that accomplishes nothing. Add in the issues between pvp and pve or for people that switch specs and this is just a trash way to split things up for no reason. On top of all of this you reduce people to seeing 1/4 of the storyline.

[Garretdejiko]

I have had two warlocks since Cata and played as a main my Blood Elf, untill Shadowlands when I switched to orc. Loved how the Necrolord set looks on the Orc and, granted, Decimation isn't the best pick (I think most Destros go kyrian), but the playstyle feel quite nice. My other lock is the "tryhard" one, went Night Fae/Affliction with it and have it raid ready in case something aweful happens to Destruction.
I plan to get all the Covenant sets, so for my alts, like a good autist, made a list of them and asign the rest of the covenants. Some landed with a good combo; picked Necro my Ele Sham, most of them not.

TL;DR: Picked what felt right for my main, picked whatever with my alts. I assume that by the end of the xpac, covenant restrictions for the sets will be lifted and I'll have a shitton of choices for xmog.

[Garybear]

Lied the Reddit/MMO-C/WoWhead poster
So it turns out unsurprisingly that the vast majority of people's 'meaningful choice' was the strongest covenant for the strongest spec of their desired class.

But seriously though, I'm honestly surprised that even super-casual players play for the meta, I really believed there was some demographic that were so casual they wouldn't even bother googling what was best for them.

I'm a mythic raider and I picked nightfae as a druid because thematically it made sense. I honestly have no idea what the other options give, nor do I want to know what I'm missing out on.

[Toybox]

The worst thing about the whole system is that EVERYONE could've chose their covenants based on aesthetics without worrying about underperforming elsewhere in the game if they just added the new abilities as a row of talents. If my Warrior got Condemn, Spear of Bastion, & Banner as a talent row I'd have been so excited, plus I'd have been able to pick the covenant I like rather than just the ability I like (& require). That wouldn't devalue the covenant system - if anything it'd make it a more meaningful choice, as people would have nothing to hold them back choosing the one they like.

Good on anyone who picked purely on aesthetics

[GucciWarr]

The worst thing about the whole system is that EVERYONE could've chose their covenants based on aesthetics without worrying about underperforming elsewhere in the game if they just added the new abilities as a row of talents. If my Warrior got Condemn, Spear of Bastion, & Banner as a talent row I'd have been so excited, plus I'd have been able to pick the covenant I like rather than just the ability I like (& require). That wouldn't devalue the covenant system - if anything it'd make it a more meaningful choice, as people would have nothing to hold them back choosing the one they like.

Good on anyone who picked purely on aesthetics

Hey douchebag you forgot Ancient Aftershock, war banner is for women and ducks

[Sentynel]

Dunno man, I like vampires so I went with them although they are not the best for ele shamans

[Toybox]

Hey douchebag you forgot Ancient Aftershock, war banner is for women and ducks

It's too similar to Spear so it'd either be one or the other. Banner needs buffing though

[Halfaheart]

I picked my initial four off of theme and aesthetic and they pretty much coincided with the better ones for each class anyway. The differences aren't catastrophic enough to where you feel you picked the wrong one but you definitely notice the improvements

[Phaelia]

I chose Venthyr for my Warlock for the aesthetics, and it has hurt me. Impending Catastrophe needs to be instant cast at very least and it’s cooldown shortened. Even then it’s a horrible ability.

[Tarba]

Lied the Reddit/MMO-C/WoWhead poster
So it turns out unsurprisingly that the vast majority of people's 'meaningful choice' was the strongest covenant for the strongest spec of their desired class.

But seriously though, I'm honestly surprised that even super-casual players play for the meta, I really believed there was some demographic that were so casual they wouldn't even bother googling what was best for them.

Many don't. But it's normal for a casual to look at that. Imagine you are not the most amazing player of the world (so not the random quidam on mmo champ). You don't sim every piece of stuff you get, you actually don't even do your own sims or care about that. You also know you are not the 99% percentil who pl every group by doing what's best for his own dps even if it goes against the strat.
You just casually look on the internet what's the best for your class and your activity. Because you still think that if you do something and go with a 5% dps handicap, well you are not a mmochamp random forumer, so you will allways be 5% lower than you should. And those people still think that their own performance matters. You might not have the greatest skill in the world so no reason to shoot you in the foot.

And you don't even need to do mythic raids. No matters the difficulty if you don't overgear it you can wipe at 1% and think "maybe those 5% would have been great".

[Mehrunes]

Blizzard made the most thematic covenants to be the strongest in most cases. Easy way to fix stupid system without actually changing anything major.

Except Night Fae is the strongest Covenant for most specs, followed by Kyrians, so they sure as hell did not. Unless you want to tell me that fairy Death Knights, Warlocks and Rogues make for a good thematic fit (or at least better than the alternatives). And even when it comes to Venthyr and Necrolords while they are the best choice for a few matching specs, one or the other is also the best choice for all Shaman specs.

[dirtyjokes]

Just because Covenant choices overlap with BiS choices doesn't mean that's why they were picked.
There are a multitude of reason why people pick Covenants: dps, utility, group setup, raid, ease of use/ implementation in rotation, theme, colors, etc.

[McNeil]

I like playing my classes at their fullest potential so I'm mostly drawn to the strongest covenant. I plan to have a character for each covenant anyway and I don't care to much for the cosmetics, I just want to experience their campaigns. I wish they could have made all the covenant abilities into a talent row so you just choose your covenant for the story and cosmetics with no impact on your gameplay.

Also find it worth sharing this new Camptain Grim video about covenants:

[munkeyinorbit]

Lied the Reddit/MMO-C/WoWhead poster
So it turns out unsurprisingly that the vast majority of people's 'meaningful choice' was the strongest covenant for the strongest spec of their desired class.

But seriously though, I'm honestly surprised that even super-casual players play for the meta, I really believed there was some demographic that were so casual they wouldn't even bother googling what was best for them.

"I don't care what other people do" lied the mmoc user.

People chose what they wanted based on their own personal beliefs. OMG RIGHT.

My first toon chose the vampires cause the mage set looked coolest. Turns out I didn't like frost and I changed to arcane. oH nO, iTs tHe wORsT. Who cares, my mage looks cool. Next was hunter and I was only ever going to be ven or fae. I choose fae because I preferred the 2 min CD. Turns out it was the best. Who cares. Third was lock. He went blue angels because the gear looked 2nd best on my mage. I don't even fucking know how it performs. Turns out it looks terrible on a gnome. I might change but at least the mount looks cool.

While the general feeling in game about covenants is "who fucking cares" I'm still not surprised there others out there who are so triggered about what other people do that they feel the need to make threads about it. It is pretty sad tbh.

[Inukashi]

Well, funny enough my RP covenant is my strongest covenant

in Pen and Paper I play the Archfey Warlock, so it was clear he's gonna join the fey / ardenweald in SL
Also my Bloodknight Paladin of course went to the Venthyr.
My Shaman comes from a desert, covered in ashes.. So the only thing that was barely matching was maldraxxus and again I've got his strongest covenant.

[chiddie]

Well, funny enough my RP covenant is my strongest covenant

in Pen and Paper I play the Archfey Warlock, so it was clear he's gonna join the fey / ardenweald in SL
Also my Bloodknight Paladin of course went to the Venthyr.
My Shaman comes from a desert, covered in ashes.. So the only thing that was barely matching was maldraxxus and again I've got his strongest covenant.

RP wise all my 3 shamans should really stay without a covenant, what a pity it’s not possible.

Since nothing fitted in the end I went for the “best” bandwagon and chose Necro for resto and Venthyr for enha (Ele is still in the Maw). Now I’m leveling a Druid that’ll become resto, I will probably choose NF just to see the campaign, but jizuz I hate that place.

[Kaver]

The real "majority" of players doesn't even know what covenant gives best performance.

For most classes, even googling "best covenant" will redirect you to long guide that explains how different covenants are best for raids, m+ and PvP. Gets even more complicated when a player tends to heal in dungeons but dps in raids etc.

As for these specific examples:

1) Venthyr are all about nobility, and Necrolords are about power AND honor. Makes sense for rogues to NOT choose these covenants.

2) Less than 50% of priests are Venthyr? Besides, most popular priest class (blood elf) would naturally go Venthyr with its aesthetic.

3) Warlocks don't really fit Night Fae, but they don't fit Kyrian or Venthyr either. And Maldraxxus is just ugly. You can just as well go Night Fae.

4) Barely more than 50% is Kyrian, rest are spread Venthyr-Night Fae (nobody plays Necro as its the one example of absolutely unplayable class ability).

There is obviously a group of players that chooses purely ny performance, but in fact statistics prove they are in minority.

If you think it’s a coincidence that the majority have picked the covenants that performs the best then you’re simply being delusional or disingenuous.

Also, your logic around Rogues is completely ridiculous. I don’t know what fantasy world you live in. Do you seriously think that one of the most edgy classes in the game would choose to play a fairy or angle theme over a vampire theme?

Most Rogue players on the forums said before SL launched that they would prefer to play Venthyr because of the vampire theme and transmog. But they choose night fae and kyrian because it performs better.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes, if there is something I found out then it is that others know if I speak the truth or lie and what the "majority" of players does and chose based on whatever statistic they can pull up (also interesting that for rogue "the best" are two covenants).

Also: In the graphic that OP's video links to has written "ALL Players" (not all characters) on the statistics. So...will the people critical of WoW who think there is a mass unsub accept this statistic as "WoW has 6 million players? Or is this a case of "Obviously it means characters and includes alts" (onviniently ignoring:

" These stats are limited by how fast website can scan character data from the Blizzard API. Every day it updates 1-2m characters, and with almost 20m characters in queue to get updated, it takes a while to refresh.
Covenant stats are also limited to characters that had been active in the last 14 days. This is done to avoid abandoned alts and to keep data as recent as possible. " on the original website.

And yeah..."the vast majority". This always fits and is used as an example if the mood on a forum or so seems to fit your narative. "The vast majority" here just said they picked their covenant for gear and RP reasons. You actually could have quoted 10 people here to tell them all "I'm happy that you can play the game you want it. That's great! You're simply lying to yourself...."

Are you even playing the game? It so obvious that the majority of players in the game plays the covenant that performs the best. It’s a fact. To say it’s a coincidence is just so so stupid. I don’t care what 10 users on this forum says. I’m saying you’re lying to yourself about the statistical facts. I’m not sure why you’re even try to argue otherwise. What people on this forum say and do has nothing to do with the major statistical facts of the game.

- - - Updated - - -

Just because Covenant choices overlap with BiS choices doesn't mean that's why they were picked.
There are a multitude of reason why people pick Covenants: dps, utility, group setup, raid, ease of use/ implementation in rotation, theme, colors, etc.

That’s ridiculous. The majority of each spec in the game has chosen the covenants that perform the best. Saying it’s a coincidence is just ignorant and desperate.