They never had anything to do with crystals, even in the warcraft movie we saw one being made, being cut open and we never saw once single crystal. Looks like Medivh was simply animating clay with magic somehow.
The idea that the golems are now using crystals from (by what i’ve seen explained in another forum) the elemental plane implies that either they are simply elementals that came from deepholm or the creator went there to get those crystals, since only there in wow you can ever see them.
I think it removes possibilities out of the golems’ creation concept and makes it sometimes straight up impossible to create one if the condition is to have such crystals.
If you have to get a crystal that you can find only near the center of the planet to animate a golem, then why not instead turn to necromancy and animate it using the soul of a humanoid, an animal or something like that? Things that are widely accessible to you in your vecinity.
I am also disappointed by the new Golems. I think the crystals exist just to make it look ‘flashy’, something completely irrelevent and honestly detrimental to the art style and setting of the game.
Seems like another example Wow’s garish influence seeping into Reforged.
I think the crystals help improve the readability of the golems though. Say what you want about their aesthetics but the old ones had rather poor team-colour display. These new ones are unmistakably on team {insert colour here}.