My point of view:
I see the factions as a mirror of what their leader is.
The first Horde was chaotic under the leadership of GulâDan/Blackhand.
Orgrim Doomhammer, was honoured and he got rid of GulâDan demonic inflluence but the Horde was still chaotic as thatâs the nature of the majority of the Orc clans except the Frostwolf clan.
Because the Horde was chaotic, it allowed for the Alliance to be the lawful heroic faction everyone loved back than.
That changed with Arthas and Thrall in Warcraft 3.
On one side we can see a lawful prince of the Alliance, losing his mind over vengeance, turning in to a Death Knight, killing his father and destroying his kingdom.
On the other we can see a Orc that grew with Humans and became much different from what we know about Orcs.
I think Warcraft 3 was a series of chronicles that should had been kept away from WoW.
WoW narrative should had started since day one from the first game: GulâDan Horde as the movie.
Horde is chaotic, Alliance is lawful.
A simple narrative.
But because everyone wanted to play the new races, because Orcs and Humans were no longer enough they had to start WoW narrative from Warcraft 3 and shoehorn the Forsaken and the Night elves in the other two factions as that would make any sense âŚ
Because Thrall Horde wasnât chaotic enough, because VolâJin, Cairne and Baine were just too honored we had to receive addons like Sylvanas, Forsaken, Varimathras, Putress, Garrosh, Korâkron etc.
The Alliance had in Vanilla litle Anduin and Bolvar.
The Horde had Thrall.
Two of the best leaders for me.
Because they did what leaders in WoW should do: nothing.
Let the adventure and fight to the Player character, he is the protagonist of the game in my opinion, not them.
The Alliance had Varian afterwards the best Alliance protagonist leader for me.
The Horde had Garrosh, replacing Thrall, a return to Orgrim Doomhammer roots, but unfortunately this wasnât Orgrim Doomhammer Horde no more and he got dethroned, by Horde rebels and the Alliance.
The Horde got VolâJin afterwards another brilliant Warchief in my opinion.
Players that donât like him say he did nothing.
Thatâs why I loved him so much, for the same reason I loved Thrall Horde.
But aparently because we canât have a ceasefire for too long, Varian and VolâJin had to be killed.
Now let us see what we have in BfA.
Horde:
Dark, grim, heartless, evil, no respect for honor, just like Sylvanas.
Alliance:
I was thinking about Anduin today and what he is.
He is a priest.
Priests hear confessions, forgive or condemn, sins.
We can see him doing those things with Sylvanas and Saurfang.
Condemning Sylvanas in Undercity and hearing Saurfang guilt confession, after that how Saurfang will amend for what he has done.
And probably this is where the problem lies.
While I wouldnât have problems with Anduin leadership as I never had with Thrall and VolâJin leadership, I understand a lot of people would prefer Varian style of ruling or in alternative Genn Greymane.
Factions as Horde lore and everything else are what the developers say they are.
Alliance is lawful.
The Horde is what the developers say it must be.
In BfA: a return to âWarcraft rootsâ.
Yeah, I can see that.
Look at that angry Orc looking at Anduin in BfA poster.
Look at that angry Orc looking at Jaina in BfA poster.
The only thing it resembles a return to ârootsâ of Warcraft is the brutality of Horde actions reintroduced again, after a expansion where both leaders died fighting a common enemy
Talking about a mood breaker.
Sometimes I just want to say to Activision Blizzard âHordeâ developers, to grow a pair and admit they never wanted to write Thralls Horde, what they wanted was Orgrim Doomhammer Horde back, but the community (majority: Alliance and Horde) didnât aprove Garrosh and thatâs how we came to BfA.
Sorry for the long post, this is just some of my thoughts that have been going on my mind for a while now.
Thanks for your attention.
Cheers.