I legitimately don’t care in what form Covenants launch.
I see people on here, reddit, even youtube complaining and providing their criticism about the system, and having read and seen as much as I have at this point, I don’t see it being any better or worse no matter how it launches. The discussion at this point boils down to what the “1%” playerbase thinks of it, and what the “casual” playerbase thinks of it. And I think they’re both overall wrong.
The 1% wants it to be opened up so you can switch Covenants around without issue or blockade, while the casual playerbase seems to want it to remain restrictive as it currently is for RPG reasons. The fact of the matter is that the 1% has always been dealing with annoying stuff and they will continue to do so regardless of how difficult it ends up being if they have to, because they aren’t ones who are very quick or keen to quit the game outright. Sure, it’d be easier if the system was opened up, and it might overall be a good thing, but they’re still going to find annoying stuff that they have to deal with if they want to min-max, and they’ll end up complaining about it too. Meanwhile the casual playerbase is frankly pretty stupid if they think restriction equates to RPG elements. In Morrowind choosing or creating your class is pretty important, as it determines what you are good or bad at from the very start. However, you can still go against your class’s chosen skills and level them up to max if you want, because you aren’t restricted from doing so. Many have argued that Covenants are much like a sub-class system, but having them be as restrictive and difficult to constantly switch around as most think they will be actively goes against a common RPG mechanic, that being you can actively change, improve, and utilize skills which you didn’t pick from the start, and you can do so freely. Skyrim is the literal embodiment of being free to change and use whatever the hell you want without any real restrictions. Despite how many like to argue that Skyrim is a bad RPG partly because of this, it’s just an easier form of something one has always been able to do in TES games. The entire argument that restriction makes Covenants more of an RPG element or system is genuinely just flat out false.
Now, that being said, I have a way in which one might get the best of both worlds, in a sense at least. I call it: Covenant Allegiances.
Say you join the Venthyr Covenant and increase your renown level to the first weekly cap or so, and then return to Sinfall, where Prince Renethal has a quest waiting for you. He tasks you with providing aid to the other Covenants of the Shadowlands in an effort to form allegiances with all of them. You get the choice of which Covenant to ally with each time you get the quest, but we’ll go with the Necrolords for the sake of example. You travel to Maldraxxus and meet up with Baroness Vashj or Baron Mograine and offer your aid on behalf of the Venthyr. They task you with dealing with whatever threat there is in Maldraxxus, and by the end of it you have further proven your worth to the Necrolords, and more, you have proven the Venthyr’s worth as an ally, and thus they agree to the offer of allegiance. Once an allegiance is formed with a Covenant, you can freely access their soulbinds and switch to their set of abilities and use them for as long as you wish, doing so via an emissary. Switching your abilities back to Venthyr is as easy as returning to Sinfall and talking with Prince Renethal, or simply your Covenant’s own emissary.
You still remain a full member of the Venthyr Covenant, but as an ally to the Necrolords you offer the Venthyr’s strength to theirs, and vice versa. The downsides of merely being allies and not joining the Necrolords outright are simple. You don’t get to experience your allied Covenant’s storylines, or access their special cosmetic items, or any other special items tied to the Covenant specifically. Your initial choice dictates what theme you preferred, and what item-based rewards you obtain, and what story you experience, but allegiances remove the barrier between the powers each Covenant provides. You can ally with each and every Covenant as well, so you never have to switch one ally for another in order to access their powers. Perhaps there would be a means to which you need to maintain your allegiances, but I couldn’t personally think of anything other than separate, much more easy to handle set of renown with each ally.
All that being said, I refer to what I said at the very beginning of this. I legitimately don’t care how the system launches because I know I’ll enjoy it regardless. Even so I can recognize the flaws on both sides of the argument and have my own ideas for how to solve the issue in favor of both of them. I want to clarify quickly as well that when I refer to them as the 1% and the casual playerbase, I obviously don’t mean literally every single person who might identify as such. There are many in the casual playerbase who generally agree with the 1%, and I’m sure somewhere there is a vice versa to that.