- Update: As of July 20th, this change is now live on EU realms -

- Update #2: <outdated, as of Augush 10th this functionality has been hotfixed out of the game> An addon is out that uses the WoW API to re-enable a much more generous level of zoom. It is uncertain whether the developers will allow this functionality to remain, but for the time being it seems like a functional, game-legal workaround that makes no use of third party methods:
https://mods.curse.com/addons/wow/maxcam

- Update #3: The devs have now commented on the issue, and are taking steps in the right direction, but there are still no plans to fully revert the change:
http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20748204616?page=8#post-147

- Update #4: A new CVAR is in game that allows an extension of the camera distance to 39 yards, higher than the new default maximum, but still only 4-5 yards more than the old default camera allowed. The command is: /console cameraDistanceMaxZoomFactor 2.6
You can use addons like Maxcam or FasterCamera to enable this by default.

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There was recently a blue post on the US forums about how the current max camera distance is going to be significantly reduced in Legion via the removal of the console option that allowed it to be increased (which many players have been using for years). You can find the full blue post here:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745744692?page=1#18

The viewpoint of the devs is that parity is important, and that they prefer how the game looks with a more tightly zoomed camera. I cannot disagree more with this reasoning, as is stems from the "one size fits all" approach that has led to a huge number of WoW's more detrimental design decisions over the years.

Everyone likes playing the game in different ways, and the removal of options like this is only going to result in unhappy players. I enjoy having my camera zoomed in all the way when I'm running about town, doing dungeons, or roleplaying, but when I'm dealing with enormous room-sized bosses, gazing out over huge landscapes, or dealing with complex and spread-out raid groups, the increased camera distance is an absolute godsend, making the game much more enjoyable to play.

I actually find it horribly uncomfortable when games have enormous enemies that get all up in my camera, and I've always been grateful that WoW has the option to circumvent this with a very generous level of camera zoom.

I'd implore the devs to reconsider this change, since it is a huge decrease in quality of life that is only going to result in many players being unhappy and frustrated with the loss of a great feature they've enjoyed for many years now.

In a game played by millions of people with diverse tastes, the removal of options and flexibility (especially when it comes to things like the visual look of the game) is rarely ever a good thing. This has notable similarities to the issue Overwatch faced during development when the FoV was initially locked to a very narrow viewpoint, resulting in a lot of players being unhappy with the lack of flexibility in how they viewed the game. The reasoning via the devs was based on the same argument of creating parity between user experiences, but thankfully they saw sense and changed their minds prior to launch, resulting in a lot of very happy players.

Screenshots showcasing the change, and some of the issues it creates for both raiding and regular gameplay:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/5789-Legion-Max-Camera-Distance-Reduction
http://imgur.com/a/PjCwX
http://imgur.com/a/dcJhQ

And a couple of albums I've been putting together myself to illustrate how poorly some of the game is designed around this new zoom:

http://imgur.com/a/1zh3A
http://imgur.com/a/W9OUw

A look at how the "ideal" level of camera zoom is entirely dependent on the scene at hand:

http://imgur.com/a/zwD8q

Edit -

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745704791?page=6#109

Really touching post by someone on the US forums who suffers from a host of serious medical issues, scared that this change will take away the refuge WoW gives them by making the game unplayable due to headaches and nausea.

These are the people I really feel for, not just those of us who'll be frustrated and annoyed by the camera distance reduction. If I were a developer, making a change that has this kind of an impact on my players would not be something I'd ever consider unless the upsides were tremendous. I can only hope the people at Blizzard read these posts and seriously reconsider whether their ideas are worth it.

Edit 2 -

It's also worth adding that this change actually reduces parity between player experiences in a much worse way than the console command ever allowed, since the way WoW works means that having a larger monitor effectively increases your field of view similar to how zooming out would.

What this means is that the barrier between players who see less of the surrounding area and those who see more is now purely financial, as opposed to being mitigated via a console command. People with very large, or multi-monitor setups will see significantly more of the world around them than those with smaller monitors.

You can see the difference illustrated on a basic single-monitor setup here:
https://i.imgur.com/sQVcynC.jpg

Max camera distance reduced (now live)