Why is Covenant progress so satisfying?

I don’t want to like how the Covenants work. They’re freaking complicated, with a ton of stuff going on in and around them — in many ways this is World of Warcraft at its most complex and usually systems like this irritate the heck out of me. Just look at how I felt about Azerite Armor if you want an example of me not liking that kind of thing. But so far, I am almost angry at myself for how much I’m enjoying Covenants in Shadowlands. I like the Soulbinds! I like the ongoing unfolding story, I like the Callings (again, I don’t want to, but I do), and the way it’s linked to Renown is something I expected to utterly frustrate and upset me — so color me even more surprised to find myself loving the way it’s pacing the content.

I love Covenants and I don’t really know why. Why does this elaborate, complicated, utterly chock-full series of systems work for me? Why do I find myself happily doing the small pieces and waiting for the bigger ones to unlock? Is it just that I enjoy the storytelling? That the way you get pieces of each Covenant’s backstory and history feels like great worldbuilding, that the Covenants themselves are far more welcoming and anticipatory than I was expecting? There’s potential in there, but I can’t nail it down as the reason. It could be as simple as really feeling like the Covenants managed what the Class Order Halls tried to do — I feel like my choice of Covenants was a choice, like it’s far more revealing of my character and their personality than just whatever class I happened to be when Legion started.

But I’m curious what y’all think. Why does it feel good to get Renown, why does progressing in the Covenant story feel so much better than the War Campaign in Battle for Azeroth? Or am I wrong? Do you hate the Covenant and long for the older approaches? Share your perspective with me for I am dying to know.