Breakfast topic: The world from a gnome's eyes
by Amanda Rivera 
Oct 25th 2007 at 8:00AM
Gnomes are not necessarily exclusive only to World of Warcraft, but as a race, the WoW iteration of the people is quite unique. We recently got a chance to see, via the Beer Goggles, what the world would be like if it were populated with gnomes, and a scary, scary distopia it would be. Whenever I am turned into a Leper Gnome as a Hallow's End trick, I spend the hour fighting from their perspective, as if the game camera were hovering just inches off the ground. And that's pretty much it for me, it's all I can take not to turn off the costume at once.
I often wonder what it would be like to live within Azeroth, and try to imagine what it would be like to actually be a troll or an orc. The perspective of a gnome brings all kinds of challenges, and is one I don't think I would ever knowingly pick. I have had two gnome characters in my time, but each time the camera perspective has frustrated me to the point where I had to delete them and move on. Despite the issues with their height, I can imagine that living in Gnomeregan when it was, you know, clean and such, was a complete blast. An entire community of tinkerers and engineers, obsessed with creating their inventions despite how dangerous they might become.
I'm sure the roleplay opportunities are endless when you play a gnome, and I have seen nothing more amusing than a gnome warrior charging into fight Void Reaver. But still, the world from a gnome's eyes has got to be pretty skewed, and I don't know if I could ever get myself to do it long term. Unless, of course, the gnome were a Death Knight.
Filed under: Gnomes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ghen Oct 25th 2007 8:10AM
I played a Kobold on a roleplay DAoC server. It was always fun to tell people to come down to my level.
Skarloey Oct 25th 2007 8:43AM
You forget the constant bombardments of "Punt the gnome" jokes we get. Even your own guild members will rag you about that some times. And as #1 said, yes I tell people to tell it to my hat or I’ll bite their knees. It’s a lot of fun and a great stress reliever for a group to pick on a gnome for some reason.
But I love playing my gnome and my Alt is a dwarf (guess I like the short toons). I’m proudly a 65 Gnome mage and the hardest thing I’ve found (once you get use to the camera angle) is running a group of tall ones. All you see are the rumps of your group mates and their pets if you’re a caster like me. You’ve not lived till you’ve looked at the rump of a turtle (and there are worse ones too) for a whole run of Uldaman. But I love my gnome ….even if I am a foot ball for some.
Clink Oct 25th 2007 8:54AM
My character is a gnome, and it was the first toon I ever rolled on WoW. I never noticed the camera angle because that's what I began playing with and what I grew used to. I've tried alting with the taller races but they just don't interest me. Nothing is a fun to me as playing a gnome.
wowtard Oct 25th 2007 8:59AM
Gnome Warriors are the biggest mistake Blizzard ever made.
Michel Oct 25th 2007 9:10AM
Gnome Warriors are the biggest success Blizzard ever made.
to accept people thinking the contrary is the biggest error of blizzard.
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I only play a gnome (only one character, no alts) , for more two years. So I never thought about the whole camera view. I only thought about it in real action when I tried a draenei
I still think gnome are the best characters. some pathos (lost of gnomeregan), weird crazy personnality, great design, and the fact others people react to the tiny size .
often, people simply hate little people, and I think it's surely the same thing in real life. I think challenged people have many difficulties because of the hate and bad humour of the big people. when I read a player only doing jokes about gnome, I know that person is a jerk or intolerant in real life.
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but in the game, it can be a great asset to create a good character, to stretch the game in surprising ways. A gnome has to fight to be listened. it's a .. challenge.
Dan B. Oct 25th 2007 9:42AM
And on the other end of the spectrum are Taurens - you can't reach the bar, my druid hits his head if he tries to leave the UC elevator mounted, and god forbid I try to tank something in a confined area.
Sylythn Oct 25th 2007 10:05AM
The first character I rolled was a Gnome...and so I got used to the camera view. In fact, I never noticed it was different. By the time I rolled my second character, and I just looked around in awe wherever I went...I could see more, I didn't have to jump to look over hillcrests, I could actually get over fences, everything looked bigger! Which is a bit odd, you'd expect things to look bigger when you're small...but the odd effect of having a more limited view, actually makes the world feel a bit smaller - at least the world immediately surrounding you.
Japper Oct 25th 2007 10:09AM
I mainly play my female gnome warrior, gnomes have so much more character than the other classes, much better than those boring humans/elves/dwarves.
It does have it's downsides, my newest guild leader's the Main tank, he keeps taunting off me thinking I'm a mage or some other squishy class.
Duerma Oct 25th 2007 10:25AM
I play on an RP server, and my main character is a gnome warlock. She's a SCREAM! Playing a gnome lets me be as zany as I want to be - an orc warlock might not run in circles while throwing DoTs on her opponent, but a gnome certainly does. A night elf couldn't get away with yelling "PEWPEWPEW" in character, but no one questions it on a gnome.
Recently, I began RPing a romance with her, and gnome romance is seriously the cutest thing ever. I love the /blush animations, and watching it play out is like watching a couple 12 year olds figure out their first dating relationship.
Something else I find endlessly amusing is the ability to hide in certain game models. You can sit down in a patch of kingsblood, and you're completely hidden. My gnome can hide inside her own soulwells (and, amusingly, before they changed the model, has been semi-stuck inside the crystal before).
I never noticed the camera problem, but then I tend to pull my camera way back regardless of which character I'm playing.
Rerolled Oct 25th 2007 10:40AM
Gnome warriors are the most adorable thing ever.
I'll admit to often mistaking them for casters as well though.
Brian Arnold Oct 25th 2007 10:50AM
When I first started playing, I made a night elf priest, because I always played an elven healer in prior games. I ran as him for nearly a year, and he was my first 60 (and is still currently 60, although he's close to 61, I just don't really play him often at all).
Then my wife started playing, about two years ago. She eventually wound up rolling a priest as well, and I made a human warlock to play around with her and help her level a bit. It wasn't all that different.
Sometime last year, we realized that we'd gotten our friends playing and stuff, but nobody was a real tank. So, I got nominated to make one, and messing around, I went with a gnome warrior.
He's now 70 and I absolutely love playing him. The perspective difference was HUGE. I remember the first time I saw a kingsblood on him (my nelf was an herbalist) and I didn't recognize it, because it was so huge.
It's really quite a different place, and the perspective is crazy different, but I love it, and I wouldn't change it if I could at this point. I'm seriously hoping I can be a gnome death knight, for the sake of having a farming character (since my prot warrior isn't exactly high DPS, and I didn't bother to build much of a DPS set with him since I'm always tanking).
I've recently rolled up a tauren druid to play with a friend on the Horde side, and I'm still adjusting to it. It's very weird to be tall again.
honkhonk Oct 25th 2007 11:18AM
I may be only a meter tall, but can lay waste to entire battlegrounds
(gnome warlock ftw)
we also get the biggest dreadsteed :D
AndrewS Oct 25th 2007 12:00PM
Yea as a gnome main, I always carry some nogginfogger/deviate just so I can up my camera angle for some fights where everyone has to stand on top of each other. I would gladly change to human if I could. It does have it's advantages though, like hiding in small terrain objects, sometimes there are handy places only a gnome can stand.
Sedair Oct 25th 2007 12:24PM
I have characters of all shapes, sizes, races, and factions. Above all my preferred camera angle is that of the gnome specifically for the reason of tight confined quarters. I agree with #2 (Skarloey) tho because sometimes it's difficult to see the mob you need to target when everyone's rump is in your face and you see so many cracks you thought an earthquake was in progress.
I think my most frustrating camera angle is that of my NE hunter when inside. I'm always having to rearrange myself not only because mobs are "too close" (thank god that's going the way of dodo birds) but because I'm having to be forced to zoom in closer than I want and see less action than I need.
Proud to be a gnome as my main.
70 Gnome Mage
70 NE Hunter
70 Dwarf Paladin
66 Gnome Warrior
62 NE Druid
54 Human Warlock
37 Drano Priest
35 Drano Shammy
----
54 Tauren Shaman
45 UD Warlock
42 UD Rogue
36 Troll Hunter
Caribbean Oct 25th 2007 2:33PM
Gnomes should not be warriors just like Blod Elves shouldn't be. They aren't in tune with the martial arts at all. Rather sad actually.
Dyardawen Oct 25th 2007 2:43PM
Camera angle what? I usually zoom out as far as possible and with that there's hardly any difference to other races. Do you really play in first person view?
Syung Oct 25th 2007 2:49PM
My main is a human rogue, and I've very often seen some small crevice or tiny space under the roots of a tree and thought to myself, "If only I were a gnome."
Coggins Oct 26th 2007 8:10AM
I've always been a gnome rogue and never noticed the camera problems.
What I did notice is I can get to places no-one else can get to(without great difficulty anyway) and a gnome warlock friend of mine used this to summon a draenei into a fireplace. He was too tall to escape.
Annwn Oct 25th 2007 4:46PM
I play a gnome rogue, and yes, in large raids, if I don't zoom my camera out to where I'm just a tiny spec on the screen, there is virtually no way for me to see past my tank or the clutter of the raid. I'm usually noggenfoggered up, or deviated delighted when I raid simply because it actually raises my pov.
Fletch Oct 25th 2007 7:02PM
I tried to level as a gnome in the Draenei starting area, but there's so much grass and shrubs there I couldn't see anything.