I have a suggestion that I think could improve immersion without affecting gameplay balance.
One thing I feel is still missing in WoW is class self-expression.
To be fair, Blizzard has already made huge improvements in this area. The new talent trees were a fantastic addition, and Hero Talents are a great example of giving players more class fantasy. I especially like that some Hero Talents even change spell visuals.
However, I still feel there is room to go further.
One relatively inexpensive way to do that would be expanding the Glyph system. Even a handful of new cosmetic glyphs every expansion would make a huge difference for immersion.
The best example for me is the Priest class.
Priest fits almost every race in Warcraft, but visually they all use very similar Holy effects. As a Night Elf Priest, my spells look like generic Holy Light rather than the power of Elune. A cosmetic glyph that changes Holy visuals into moonlight or Elune-themed magic would make the class fantasy so much stronger.
I have a similar issue with Shadow Priest.
I’d like to play DPS on my Night Elf Priest, but Shadow Priest is visually centered around Void and Shadow. From an RP and immersion perspective, it would be amazing if cosmetic glyphs allowed us to replace those visuals with moon magic, Light, or even Elune’s power where it makes lore sense.
Another good example is Hunters.
I really like that Marksmanship Hunters can choose Hero Talents such as Sentinel or Dark Ranger, but I’d love to see even more cosmetic differences between those fantasies. A few additional animations or visual effects could go a long way.
I think WoW already has one of the strongest class fantasies in any MMO. I’d simply love to see more ways for players to express their version of that class through purely cosmetic customization.
More Glyphs would be a fantastic step in that direction.