This pretty much echoes the sentiments I've been feeling for all this time. The leadership of both sides (though I tend to notice Alliance more being an Alliance player) is really only limited to the one or two figures which Blizzard has thrust to the forefront of their stories, while the others have pretty much only been left there to give achievements upon their deaths.

A good example is, really, King Varian Wrynn and his actions in the 3.1 trailer regarding Ulduar. Varian withheld the entirety of the Alliance forces from stepping into Ulduar and dealing with the situation there just because of the presence of the Horde. Technically speaking, he should have little to no sway over the non-human races of the Alliance... he shouldn't even have full sway over all the humans, given how splintered the race is. Stormwind is only a very very small part of human lands, even if it is the only bastion of humanity in the Eastern Kingdoms that isn't in ruiins. Yet he bosses around humans from Arathi, from Alterac, from Theramore, no doubt from Gilneas and Kul Tiras and Lordaeron as well. And he bosses all the other races around too, without so much as a by your leave or even the faintest twitch from them.

I mean, Brann Bronzebeard, brother to the reigning Dwarf king, was in Ulduar leading the explorations. He was in danger and trying to stop an Old God. Yet Varian withheld the troops. Don't you think for a moment that King Magni might have flipped Varian the bird and sent in at least some support beyond a bunch of the Explorer's League to save his brother and the world? Surely Velen of the Draenei had some foresight into the whole situation and sent a Vindicator or two to help, yet there's no Draenei NPCs there... or pretty much in ALL of Northrend, in fact. And surely the Night Elves understand the issue of an errant Old God trying to come up and eat their precious nature. Wouldn't they tell Varian to stick it and go assist? But no. All of them remain static and motionless, leaving the story to be told by the Humans or Orcs while everyone else is left in the cold.

For me, it's not so much what I want from my faction leader. It's what I want from my faction LEADERS, in the plural. I want to see the politics involved where several races, all with their own interests, are forced to band together in order to survive from the threat of the other. Stop with the stupidly aggressive and largely moronic single leaders, and give us a real, living, breathing cast so that no race feels left out of the plot.