During the Nostalrius beta i did a character 1-60 horde side (in 2011). The leveling was really pleasant, mostly because of the great scripts for the pathfinding, as well as for the pet (i played hunter) who worked fine.
The mobs and the quests were working for the most part, and we could complete with no problem almost every quest. I also reported some quest wich were not working, and it was fixed very quickly.
Its the same with the Barrens when when you kill Echeyakee, the NPC must cast a buff on you. And she does the cast but no buff.
http://db.vanillagaming.org/?spell=5320 Echeyakee's Grace (+2 spirit for 30 mins)
It's Blizzlike :
http://youtu.be/OAA86_GuQ7E?t=2h1m56s ; i remember i checked this during the beta and you didn't see the buff on the buff line next to the minimap, but if you check your stats it increases spirit by 2.
The Speed of Owatanka was a runing speed buff and it should be casted on the player by Jorn Skyseer after turning in Owatanka which is a rare mob east of Taurajo.
I don't remember what effect it should do. But i see that the databases say that it gives you a 2 spirit buff, not a speed buff.