@ mibu.work1
That was very well put. That's an excellent summary.

In my own opinion, the humans were interesting enough before WC3. However, it was a lot like LotR, or more specifically like the Númenorean tales and the latter Silmarillion ones. It felt somewhat derivative, but it was still cool in that it was in a game format and it was trying to honour that tradition.

In Warcraft 3, my opinion of the humans plummeted. Caught up with squabbles and political dispute, they ended up only seeming to care about their own personal disagreements. I don't think they ever regained the heroic image of Tolkien's humans which they had in the second game. Instead they became something else, which is good in that it's different but I didn't have a taste for it. The Arthas story I found interesting even though it was cliche, mostly because at least they had to stop bickering and think of a greater cause.

In the end, I think Warcraft humans are only interesting when they holding the line against legion of enemies.

It is then that they show their virtues. Left to their own devices, they're squabbling aristocrats who seem to only care about themselves and tiny matters (I really hate human questing in WoW, though the investigation quest line in Westline is pretty sweet).

On the flip side, the orcs also changed from being simply evil to a warrior culture of blood and honour. Their story became one of redemption. As far as I know, this was unique to WC and I thought it was a change for the better. Warcraft had found its own flavor in the high fantasy realm and its own voice.

The Horde from WC3 was really a force in itself. It had high principles and larger story in the scheme of things. The Humans even in WoW today, seem to me to be very petty in their focuses and are the least interesting race of all right now. Their glorious nature in battle is lost and diluted by their politics. Anduin seems to be the only non-warrior not to fall into this pit. If he unites the humans under a single banner and makes them epic again, then there might be hope.

I also have a small issue with Humans being more like mid-western famers scattered around European castles. Even though it's fictional, there's just a clash there.

I do hope the Humans regain some more weight in the story, but I also don't think Blizzard's focus on the Horde's story is really a bad thing. Let's be honest, human stories have been done and are still being done. They're all pretty similar, even if they're still fun if done well. The Horde, the orcs and namely Thrall is Blizzard breaking out of the usual fantasy niche. Even if Thrall's characterization and development isn't wholly original, it's still different because he is an Orc.
All the various races have values, cultures and beliefs that are very realistic and relatable EVEN the beast-like orcs, the fierce trolls and the peaceful native american cow men. There is an open-minded, cosmopolitan, anti-racist sentiment lodged in there, and Warcraft is *certainly* better for it.

Going away from the black and white stories of other high fantasy is good. It's only sad to see the humans become a causality. Maybe because they had to be de-emphasized for the new Horde to shine. However, I think Blizzard is doing great work in that respect. They only need to find a better balance.