Will it bother me? Well if I die in WPVP because of the wrong covenant, then yes. But I’m willing to accept that to feel specialized in another field.
Nobody likes things equally. There’s always a say… 5% slight favortism 
Alright that makes sense. Personally it doesn’t bother me directly that I will be less optimal in PvE content, since I usually only do some heroic raiding and light M+. Mostly a PvP guy. However, if it takes me 10 years to find a PUG for M+ because I picked a Covenant that was BiS for PvP then I might get a little bit upset.
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PUGs will always have their requirements
Go find a guild group
There are definitely many players that enjoy various aspects of the game equally - and like you mention, an additional issue at play is adding one more layer of discrimination to PUGs.
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Jokes on them then. I’d rather unsub than roll another of the same class. Heck, i can’t even get going on a different class at this point. Way too much to do/learn.
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Yeah only the upper tier of Mythic raiders will be doing that to maybe cheese some bosses on raids, but most people will not make multiple of the same class I think. I don’t believe that’s necessary either. I’m all for making Covenant abilities less restrictive, but people saying we are all forced to make multiple of the same class is a little bit of a stretch.
I think for most people it will come down to playing less of some of the content they enjoyed in the past. If someone wants to tank, heal, and do PvP on the same character they used to do all of those on in the past, they probably won’t be. With less to do, people will quit.
People will make the least worst decision. They will choose the covenant that has the fewest drawbacks for them. They will regret that decision, even though they know that there were no good choices offered to them.
How many people will want to play that game?
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I’ve already started with 3 DH’s, 2 Warriors, and 4 Druids.
It’s not just Mythic raiders - it’s also people that enjoy playing multiple roles and multiple content, especially across PvE and PvP.
Many of my friends in multiple communities have started this too and they’re far from “upper tier” Mythic raiders.
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Who are you, Dr. Kevorkian?
Well it’s like that now. I like M+, but I play a Shadow Priest. I can’t find a group to save my life so unless I join a guild that actually runs M+ together I have to do less M+ content in order to continue playing my Priest.
I do agree with this. It will be weird to “specialize” in a certain type of content and not be able to perform optimally in another type of content.
More than BFA, that’s for sure. Covenant abilities being super exclusive and restrictive is not a good idea, I agree with that. But I think you are severely overestimating the amount of people actually care, mostly because it’s voiced so adamantly on the forums.
You can’t do anything about people who only want the best classes, covenants, and combinations for their groups. Best thing to do is run with like-minded people who care about other things besides covenant choice, like IO and other metrics.
Sure, Covenants will add another layer to that, which sucks, but as a Shadow Priest player since Legion I’m already used to being left out of content so Shadowlands won’t be too much different for me. 
Well if it works for Trump, why not.
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Just in general, elite players are overrepresented on the forums. I’m thinking of casuals, who are going to find they have next to nothing to do in Shadowlands if they don’t want to RP being happy with the covenant they have chosen.
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Do you have some examples? Let’s say the casual player, who never goes on the forums, does LFR, low end Mythic keys, some Battlegrounds every once in a while, and just enjoys playing the game; how will they have nothing to do compared to other expansions?
I know some people will do that, but that won’t be the norm, which is what I’m saying.
Most players will refuse to make multiple of the same class and just pick the BiS Covenant for their main form of gameplay and hope it doesn’t hardcore exclude them from other parts of the game.
Limiting covenants doesn’t bother me.
Really? Why so? Genuine question, as this seems to be a very sensitive topic on these forums right now.
I’m only choosing based on aesthetic and interest. If that means going suboptimal for the abilities, it won’t matter for me since I’m not a bleeding edge player and I have a strong enough social network in game to not need to PUG content.
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That sounds about right.
The system doesn’t actually provide a real benefit for some players - but it definitely puts a lot of negativity onto a lot of players, which only drives them to other games.
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Your whole post is best way to put it. What I quoted I believe reflects the play style for many players. A lot of people like to do many different things in this game, and this current version of the covenant system restricts that flexibility.
It doesn’t make sense that Blizzard seemed to encourage (“force”) players to engage in different types of content in BFA, especially with how they approached essences (I don’t agree with their approach, as an fyi), but now they’re pigeonholing players into a very narrow path for playing.
Let players do what they want in this game, and don’t force it one way or the other. People like choices and people like freedom. Choices to play what they want and how they want, and freedom to try other things.
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The only reason having spells and augments attached to Covenants will be difficult, is because of the PuG community. The PuG community is pretty terrible with really odd expectations in spite of everyone, even people with high RaiderIO’s, being a serious gamble to invite.
People should really try to join guilds, or build their own friend groups to clear stuff with them. It’s a lot more enriching to build a team than it is to pick one up based on someone’s perception of what’s good at the time.
I’m choosing my Covenant based on aesthetic and roleplay. I’ll still be able to do stuff like raids and m+, because we’re building a group to raid casually; even if I don’t pick the “best covenant” for what I’m doing because team interaction is a bigger metric for group success to a majority of the playerbase than the small percentage boosts from picking something like a covenant spell.
You can pick everything that gives you the most optimal damage boosts, and still be a bad player.