Gnomes are up in extremely small, teeny weeny arms about the Black Morass instance in the Caverns of Time.

As anyone who has done the Black Morass knows, the dungeon consists of eighteen waves of mobs coming from portals that spawn randomly in the area. There are five waves of normal mobs and then a boss one. This all takes place in an area that looks like Swamp of Sorrows -- it's very wet and full of angry swamp mobs that you really should clear before starting the event. If you don't keep the mobs away from Medivh, who is standing in the middle of all this, his shield begins to fail and you "lose" the event if his shield drops to zero. Thus, speed is important in getting around. And there we have the gnomes.

Gnomes are the only race short enough to have to swim in the watery areas of Black Morass, which really slows them down. They also get dismounted trying to cross it on their mounts. Since a lot of gnomes are mages and warlocks, who usually end up AOEing non-elite mobs to keep them from Medivh, this is majorly annoying for them. Winterfall Firewater is a solution, but wow is that thing a pain to farm (take it from a raiding rogue.)

A couple of gnomes have started humorous forum threads asking for some sort of change to this. Gnomes are usually an easygoing, fun-loving bunch, so they haven't started the Angry Fix This Or I'll Quit threads, which is quite a relief compared to the rest of the WoW forums.

Personally, I like gnomes. They're very much like my race, the trolls -- we're both homeless, underpopulated, and usually played by people who are more into fun and less into drama. I'm sure there's a way to fix the Black Morass that would fit into the spirit of the gnome lifestyle -- perhaps an engineering device at the beginning of the instance that either increases your size by 25 percent or turns you into an ogre. Still, it's hilarious picturing the little gnome tank swimming for his life as he's chased by crocodiles. Or, as Meejoe of Staghelm points out, perhaps it's just karmic payback for all the times gnomes hid under wagons in Naxxramas.

What do you think? Is it an oversight by Blizzard, an intentional slight, or just really freaking funny?

Filed under: Alliance, Gnomes, Instances