What else did you expect of a proponent of bear cavalry... no taste.
The art direction in WoW is very nice, even after all those years, while games that came out at the same time and took a more "realistic" approach look very outdated now.
I absolutely love stylized colourful art in my games.
I guess that's the difference. I don't consider World of Warcraft art at all - I'm not saying it's not a good style to avoid looking "outdated", in fact, I don't care about the "art"'s impact on graphics at all (in this case).
It becomes even worse, looking back on the rather excellent art of previous Warcraft games, that started it's downfall into everything that makes Warcraft Warcraft today. From the "everyone is actually pretty good chaps, it's just that these chaps are a bit good:er than these chaps, but we don't speak about it - and those chaps over there are baseless, irrational evil", to the MOAR LENS FLAER when it comes to the latest "plot twist" sensationalist, mind-numbingly retarded grind, to the bland art that tries to "redeem" itself by being as widly exaggregated as possible.
Elemental, while being highly stylized and colorful, doesn't have to be wildly exxagregated, because it actually looks good, in a timeless manner; artful (no matter it's age, or compared to the latest lens flare).
