They were in vanilla since not all trinkets dispell fear. Some just do slows/snares some do poly.
So it gave them an edge for sure. In TBC everyone got a “good” trinket. Fears also broke easier and didn’t last 40s anymore. Additionally, you didn’t run at full speed while feared.
Still a great racial to be sure. But, you could silence the fear vs WOTF it off. Same thing in the end.