Warcraft isn't cartoony...jesus...it has some cartoonish elements when you think about unit icons in the RTSs and quotes and things like flying machines, but when you look at stuff like:
...and most of the artwork your realize that Warcraft has a deeply functional armor and weapon arsenal which mimics a lot of real life stuff, then adds to it an extra 30 kilograms of plating because everyone in WoW, even Mages, make Dwayne Johnson look like a pussy in terms of muscles.
I think that:
Is the perfect example of how far an item should go in terms of embroidery and shiny stuff, but even on that if you take off the pointless artisanal swords it's a perfectly functional shield.