"Animals raised in isolation aren't always the most functional. The only positive relationship this animal has is with that crane."
Buffs in vanilla were social activities. When you ran around in the game world in vanilla, seeing another player was a positive experience because they might buff you with fort, int, mark, thorns, etc. These buffs were impactful and helped you (unlike a fort or int today in the game world). In turn, this helped foster a positive environment, helping to imprint upon new players the importance of social skills.
Modern WoW stripped this social interaction out. Fort / int is much less impactful and so people generally don't cast it on each other. Buffs are found in solo activities like conjuring a set of heirlooms, or doing a world quest and clicking on an item on the ground that rewards a 5 minute buff. This is detrimental to the game and the social experience.
WoW needs a new talent tree - a helper tree. Putting points into it gives you the ability to buff fellow players. The buffs you get from looms should be on that tree, and reimagined as spells you can cast on others. Enchant buffs could be on the tree as well. So may some potion buffs like trolls blood. If you want to put buffs on items lying on the ground, make them only castable on other players, or add them directly to the tree as well. The tree could include social networks connecting you to other helpers for bonuses.
It seems like such a minor thing, but is greatly impactful in the long term.