It’s hard to judge content based on Alpha gameplay, it’s even harder to judge it based on alpha footage however feedback is viable and needed, but that is best for the actual Alpha testers as they get the first hand feel of it. Footage just isn’t really enough to accurately show what a skill actually feels like.
Edit
weird this got posted in the wrong thread I apologize.
But this already happens today - I know lots of people that don’t transmog or use flying. They pretend they can’t, and they enjoy the game just the same.
They also don’t want those features removed from the game - they know that other people enjoy those features, and don’t want to take that away from other people.
Also - I would argue that sticking with a single choice when you CAN change freely doe NOT diminish the value. In fact, it ENHANCES it. Just like it means more when you stay committed to someone in a relationship when you don’t have to - it means more to stay loyal to a covenant when you can change freely.
Interesting…I think this guy had the best response:
It’s not a perception problem. We know how “successful” blizzard is at balancing and we can see how insanely powerful a teleport that can be used on the z axis as well as x and y can be. There is no way for there to not just straight up be a best option which means that anyone who plays remotely competitively will be stuck taking that option and not actually have choice. The only way to have choice is if it’s cosmetic/story based only.
Won’t deny that but it feels like this time they are determined to push and make this system work, hence they are kind firm on it.
I was addressing his comment about “pretending” and “value”.
For those that don’t play competitively at all - it would still have value. As noted above, it would actually have greater value when you’re not stuck with your current covenant.
That’s why I like providing rewards for people that stay loyal to a covenant rather than putting time gates/punishments/restrictions in the way of people that prefer to optimize from role to role and/or content to content.
Key word “high tier” players. Meaning it will only be relevant for the min-maxers and let me tell ya buddy If I can beat someone in a duel then their min maxing isn’t doing them any favors.
PvE is for bad players anyway
Still liking with the compromise of … No you can’t change covenant willy nilly, that’s your choice to live with. But if you complete each covenants story on multiple (4) toons, you can swap to their powers freely in the main city.
Probably less work for blizzard too honestly. Instead of trying to figure out how to undo locking yourself into a special faction to go to a different special faction.
I know you’re not trying to sport this angle while not having a single 2k rated arena achievement right. That’d be hilarious if you were trying to spin yourself as a pvper whilst simultaneously apparently not doing pvp?
And what is this hilarious angle that the only people who want to play at their full potential being labelled as “high tier” players.
if this was the case Icyveins wouldn’t waste their time with a full breakdown on spec/rotations. You’re allowed to want to get the most out of your class and do LFR. There is nothing wrong with that.
235 Games played in 2's, 1624 Rating
Say it with me ya’ll, ooooooooooooooooooooooooooof
TBF, if you’re not a Gladiator+ or at least Top100 World, you’re pretty casual. They should stick to farming mounts they couldn’t earn while it was current content. 
(I’m not totally serious.)
Hehe, I remember when someone said earlier unless you’re a world first raider peoples opinions didn’t matter then a world first raider showed in the thread supporting our idea.
Can we get some glads in here DAMN.
What a backwards analogy.
‘Hey I think you’re a repugnant human being. I could dump you, but I’m not because it ENHANCES my choice’.
Being able to choose between choices at any moment will always diminish said things value. No matter how much back-twisting you try to frame it; choices that stick are far more impactful than those that don’t.
So, keep Signature Abilities tied to Covenants; put all the player power into talents.
Dust your hands. We’re done here.
I teach world first raiders and Gladiators how to play. Does this count?
I mean, I’m definitely currently not either of those, but what’s the verdict? Should I go back to farming mounts I couldnt earn?
Meaningful choices with rentals?
How did that work out with essences and azerite armor?
Blizz needs to focus on what matters most which are the classes and the talent system.
Your mentality is why this game is going down the toilet. Forcing players to excel in a single aspect while still being as good as they can be in another is the hallmark of many MMORPGs. WoW even followed that model through WotLK. This whole you must always be optimal to do certain content is crap. It does not belong in an MMORPG. Hell it doesn’t even belong in an ARPG… Diablo 2 arguably the best Diablo game ever had choices that forced you to pick how you wanted to excel.
Diablo 3 is crap in most Diablo fans eyes if they were around to play Diablo 2 and WoW is trying to be more like Diablo 3 than Diablo 2 which is clearly a mistake. The game has gone downhill since WotLK and that is no coincidence. The instant choices stopped meaning something and you could just pick whatever whenever the player base started declining… hmm coincidence?
Is it truly a meaningful choice if there are three objectively incorrect choices?
Is there really an incorrect choice if you are doing the content that the covenant you pick favors? The only way it can be a mistake is if you pick the covenant best for the content you NEVER do.
For Rogues right now on paper all the Rogue specific covenant abilities are poor across the board.
I raid and I do M+, and I’ll occasionally dabble in PvP. Why should I perpetually be at a massive disadvantage in the other two forms of content because I was forced to decide between being my best for raiding (and a specific type of raid encounter, at that) and being my best for dungeon-style pulls and bosses with significant cleave/AoE?
If a choice puts me and my entire group at a huge disadvantage because I actually want to do different kinds of content, is it truly a meaningful choice?
And your thought process and the many that follow you is why this game is in the toilet. This game lost subs the instant they started allowing for constant switching. It started small with dual spec then grew more and more with the current talents, removing specialties from professions, etc. The more they take away because it puts someone at a disadvantage if they did not pick X and the more this games sub count drops. Say what you want but continuing down this path will lead to this game failing.