I play Marvel Rivals too (Diamond 2 Strange / Magneto / Flex Support) and I have felt this in the past, but I think a core reason why we can’t exactly use it as a valid comparison with wow pvp is due to the concept of space.
I would say that “space” is basically dictated by lines of sight and how much a team can occupy a specific area without dying.
Let’s start with common ground. Healing in most 3D games rely on positioning. Marvel Rivals and WOW have this in common: If you have good positioning, you’ll be where you need to be without being killed by some mobile DPS (or putting yourself in danger of the turret DPS), and thus heal/support people when they need to and ultimately win the game (theoretically).
It is possible to overextend in both WOW and Marvel Rivals, but the dynamic of overextending is different because the concept of space in Marvel Rivals and WOW is different.
The primary reason why that is the case is because Marvel Rivals has a tank role which takes up space. Additionally, Marvel Rivals is objective based, so teams have a reason to go to one space instead of just retreating when low HP. The concept of space changes very dynamically in Marvel Rivals, and healers which are typically squishies go down fast if they’re suddenly in the wrong position.
WOW, by contrast, doesn’t have tanks. There is no such thing as a “squishy” like in Rivals either. Healers are actually the tanks. You can’t exactly just “take up space” in a certain area and have that be a good thing because the goal isnt to push the payload or control an area, but to kill someone in the enemy team.
Even if we take Blitz in comparison to Rivals, since Blitz is also objective-driven, it is also not a very good comparison because since everyone is a tank by standards of Marvel Rivals, you can just fight on point and there is no “pulling back”. You either kill the other team or you die.
Because the game is fundamentally based around kill or be killed, with little accountability of “giving up space” to retreat and heal, classes have several tools to avoid being killed, which in turn makes us all tanks. The tank role as we know it has been dissolved such that everyone is a tank.
I do think WOW would be funner if we had more interaction with space in the game with more emphasis on positioning, but it is clear that this would require radical changes. Who wants to mess with the cash cow, though? How can they justify such a sizeable investment? Is it even worth it to change the niche of the game that works for some?
I do think that wow’s pvp has lost its edge. There are fewer addicts nowadays than there used to be in my time. I also feel less engaged with the game’s pvp