The WoW effect comes exactly back to what is dealt with in the article by "The Alexandrian" (the article linked to earlier). The abilities of characters have no real link to the "world" of the characters. They only make sense in a disconnected and 'existential' universe (i.e. the one we are in as players of the game). The rules, by design, take us OUT of the world of our characters and make the game significantly less immersive. Marks are the key example of this. You get a challenge from a Paladin and a Fighter (called a Mark) and suddenly the challenge from one completely removes the effects of the others and so on. "The Alexandrian" does an excellent job on detailing that.

I prefer the idea that game rules shouldn't disjoin you, the player, from yourself, the Character. This is the main reason why I decided that in my own game, there are basically "physical attributes" and "skills" and these things drive everything else. Have you been taught a special combat maneuver (called a "Feat"), well to pull it off you will need to test if your skills are capable of performing that maneuver. Are you stopped from trying it 14-times each combat...? nope, you know the trick and you can use it. Will it actually work every time? Not unless you're really well practiced and skilled... then it's got a much better chance of working all the time. And so on.

To a certain extent, I want the rules to be mechanical explanations for how things "are" for the Characters and ways for determining the outcomes of complex events (like attacking people in combat) or substitutes for more ephemeral concepts (like why exactly you can beat up a university academic in three quick punches but Rocky Balboa takes a collossal pounding...)