I just wanted an expansion where I can relax and play the game to have fun, and not apply for a second job timesink, where my gameplay is governed by endless systemic loops.

Yes that is why Vanilla exists. I don't understand why people expect modern wow to go back to vanilla tier systems. These things make the game interesting and characters more unique. That's bad now? Fucking hell. If you see these systems as a second job then why don't you quit or play vanilla instead? Nobody forces you to play WoW. So the fans should also not pressure Blizzard with removing shit they don't like from the game. It's ridiculous how self entitled this fan-base is.