I give it a 6: a passable grade.
I agree on the pros, but would add the following:
- The dungeons and raid have are exceptionally strong and enjoyable and have a grwat atmosphere, barring perhaps sanguine depths and theatre of pain, though the latter has some redeeming qualities
- The zones, atmosphere and lore an sich work well in a vacuum
I am on the fence regarding your cons, i agree that the semi-mandatory grind just feels very, eh, stale. I do not regard a solid established endgame as a con at all, but would wish that all were as well working as the others; at present i can only say that mythic+ seems to really work from a non-guildbound point of view. Raids are still raids; far too repetitive for my taste to warrant 4 difficulties, and each getting their own tier of gear is likely one of the core causes of stat bloat. They should just slice the tiers in half and have them overlap, perhaps adding a mythic+ like upgrade system (i mean why does mythic even need a tier at all? It's literally challenge mode for most people and needlessly mucks up the rest of the game; i'd enjoy it just as well without the slightly higher stat sticks and just the fancier artwork). Oh and pvp is a bit of a joke at low ilvls because of ilvl scaling and just a general disbalanced playing field and absent solo/impromptu gearing options, i do like the returned pvp vendors and its upgrade system though. The maw is... iffy. They tried. Torghast is just a far lesser but repeatable form of visions from last patch of BfA, but it has its fun moments with the roguelike aspects. Honestly they should add some of that island expedition AI and variety in there to spice it up.
Cons:
- For a late starter pvp is hell due to absurd ilvl scaling; mythic+ is effectively the only worthwhile gearing option
- Convoluted soulbinds and conduit systems make no positive contributions, especially the latter are unwelcom
I consider your neutrals to be positives.p
Neutral:
- Forging your own legendary was a cool concept, but practically it's just a (light) farm-without-catchup flavorless gear thing with added gold sink
- Adventures. Really? I'd have thought a proper focus on core systems would allow you to see that this is just another unwelcome bit of not-quite-optional-enough bloat. Hell most of the original characters here are even more forgettable than in previous expansions. Honestly they should have just limited themselves to the truly prominent characters plus some well known old ones plus assorted memes (Meatball comes to mind)
- So many abilities return, yet so many core ones remain absent or talent locked. What sort of arms warrior doesn't know how to cleave but does know how to whirlwind !? Also defensive stance. srsly. At least spell reflect is baseline.
- It does not feel like warcraft at all in several respects and not in a positive way. Though also not sufgiciently negative to make it a con.