Ask a Lore Nerd: Trollin'
by Alex Ziebart 
Apr 20th 2009 at 6:00PM
Hello, hello! In this week's edition of Ask a Lore Nerd, some of our questions are followups to our Fallout edition. If you find yourself confused by the premise of any of these questions, you might want to go back and read that one so you understand what caused these questions to come up.
Sweet Sweet SoulShards asked...
"Why is the undead all over Northrend glowing orange? Is there more of an answer than the lame 'It's a new plague?' "
I can't recall any orange-glowing Undead in Northrend beyond Zul'Drak where it's explained to you in a very detailed questline. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it. Just head over to the Ebon Blade camp in Zul'Drak and it'll get you started. If there are orange Scourge elsewhere in Northrend, please leave a comment on this post informing me of where, because I can't think of any!
Tim asked...
"I only roll trolls if I can help it. Why don't they take out Zazalane and expand Sen'jin village? Trolls have like the worst "home" in the game, just a collection of a couple huts. Or even to take back Stranglethorn Vale."
People hate the 'static worlds in an MMO' answer, but so far that's probably been the reason. The Trolls could get rid of Zalazane, but it'd remove a bunch of awesome quests for lowbies.
However, I bet this or something like this will be happening in the next expansion. Now that they've been able to work in phasing more heavily than they did in the Burning Crusade, I can definitely see them using it not only in quests, but to actually evolve the world. They could add new content on top of the old content, and not really hurt anybody. They could probably do this with Gnomeregan as well, but if they do I really hope there's a questline that actually covers how they get rid of the radiation.
I fully expect to see the Darkspear Trolls in a big role in the next expansion. It's just a feeling I get.
Pamflet asked...
"Why do the gnomes not have a healer class?
They were discovered by the dwarfs and before that apparently lived isolated, yet they have no healers. Were there never a need to build a robot surgeon? Invent stimpacks? Induced coma-helmets?"
Gnomes have definitely had medics, but they don't have Healers in the way the other races have Healers. The Gnomes generally don't put much stock in higher powers or anything like that. They don't reject their existence, but they're not interested in that sort of thing. The healer classes, unfortunately, are all those sorts of people. Faith in the Light, or in touch with the Spirits or things like that. That's not really a Gnomish kind of thing.
Were there a Gnomish healer class, it would be something that no other race would really do. Gnomes would be very scientific in their approach, using things like this Bonechopper to 'fix' things. That's uniquely Gnomish, and they try to make the classes things that multiple races would have. Gnomish Medics will have to stay in your Pen and Paper games, because you probably won't see them in WoW.
Though I admit, it would be fun to amputate my raiders' limbs to cure what ails them.
Ashfall asked...
"What they don't tell you about the Gnomeregan disaster is that in addition to heavy levels of radiation the city was also blighted by a terrible sound. A hinky kind of puppet show tune that just goes on and on and on....
Anyone trying to re-inhabit now would be driven mad within just a day or so!
Sure they can clean up the radiation but there's no way to get rid of that darned tune!"
Pokeprof asked...
"I've got a question. Where exactly should we start off about learning more about the lore of WoW? I mean, I know playing the Warcraft games help, but don't supply everything, like how the Defias Brotherhood came about and what not. So where can you get the background on everything you need to know behind the lore?"
Wowwiki.com is a very good resource if you want to look up specific topics. Here at WoW Insider we also had (and will have again) a series called Know Your Lore that has covered certain topics. You won't find everything you're looking for there, but it's still pretty good! Wowwiki has just about everything you want. Just be mindful that it's a wiki. Sometimes you'll want to double check things with the sources they provide.
Ask a Lore Nerd is here to answer all of your questions about the lore and story of the Warcraft universe. From the religions of the universe to the 'evils' of Azeroth, everything is fair game. If you want more in-depth answers to some of your questions, you may find what you're looking for in Know Your Lore.Filed under: Gnomes, Trolls, Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Ask a Lore Nerd
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
SeanOr101 Apr 20th 2009 6:05PM
Very interesting. Now I can say "Hey, I learned something today!"
Taters Apr 20th 2009 6:10PM
I am not trollin' I am Boxxy you see! ^_^
Sarakin Apr 20th 2009 7:26PM
you just had to go there...........
also i used to love that show.
this is the song that doesn't end lol good times
Ametrine Apr 20th 2009 6:13PM
Actually, I've always held it's entirely possible for Gnomes to attain a Healing class (I would prefer Paladins, as gnomes have two squishy-cloth classes already) through their time spent with the Dwarves. After all, surely some gnomes must have picked up a few things about faith from their Dwarven cousins, just as how Dwarves took up a belief in the Light from interaction with Humans. I doubt they two races have lived in such close quarters with each other, with only the Dwarves learning things and not the Gnomes. And just because most gnomes are agnostic doesn't mean they all are - I mean, most trolls are cannibals, but those of the Horde aren't.
Sean Riley Apr 20th 2009 6:27PM
While true, the question also comes down to: "Is this something a gnome /could/ do, or something you could /expect/ a gnome to do?"
You could expect a gnomish warrior, or rogue. Just about every race has its fighters and sneaks. You could expect a gnomish mage, because the race has always favored the arcane, or even a warlock, as gnomish curiosity doesn't tend to be deterred by moral issues.
But I just couldn't expect to see a gnome in the service of a higher power. Faith, almost by definition, requires in the end an acceptance of mystery. That god, or the Light, or the spirits, are in some way indefinable.
No gnome worth his salt would ever accept that. They're the kind of people whom, if God stood upon the mountain and saw what his judgment had wrought, would interview God.
_A_ gnome may be a paladin. _A_ gnome may be a priest. But those who are would be odd-balls in the extreme, and not a common enough element to be a class.
Balius Apr 20th 2009 9:06PM
*I* can't expect a gnome warrior. No matter how good they are with that shield, or how thick that plate is, gnomes just don't have the mass to stand their ground and take a pounding.
I CAN, however, see a gnome taking the presence and blessing of the Sha'tar as proof enough that they can use the powers of the light. If not as a priest, then as a paladin.
The argument that ANY class can be a warrior falls apart with BC's addition of the warrior-less Blood Elves.
Personally, I can see no reason why all the races can't choose to be all the classes given the class/race combinations we already accept. Sure, it may not be a culturally accepted role for a troll to give up his traditional gods to become a druid, but that conflict can be represented with the lack of class trainers and the need to trek across Durotar, The Barrens, and Mulgore to get new skills whenever he levels. Heck, feel free to even give him a reputation penalty with his home faction, it makes sense.
There was a first Tauren Druid, there was a rebirth of shamanism in the Horde, there are Undead who embrace the light, and there are gnomes that wrinkle their adorable brows in rage as warriors. There's room for the standard fantasy trope of the unusual member of a given race embracing an unusual activity.
Mattimus Apr 20th 2009 10:09PM
@Balius
There's actually no definitive proof that the Naaru are the source of the light. It's implied, but they play their role with the Light rather close to the chest.
Also, he didn't say all races have warriors; he said:
"Just about every race has its fighters and sneaks."
Paladins fill the roll of Warriors (fighters) for the Blood Elves.
As Sean said, Gnomes throw their hats in with science, not faith. That is one of the defining characteristics with Gnomes. The Naaru do not present a case-closed definition of the Light; if they really do know everything about the light, they aren't too inclined to tell us more than they already have... at least, not for a while.
Sean Riley Apr 21st 2009 1:32AM
@Balius
None of the races make sense as warriors against the biggest creatures. Even the Tauren, against a dragon, should be flying into the nearest wall at a single hit against Onyxia. That's simple physics and mass at work. The shield can be as big as you like, but all that force has to go somewhere.
But a gnome could easily train with sword and shield. If you heard of a gnome learning tactics, it would be unremarkable. That's the real issue here; would it be unremarkable? If the answer is yes, it makes sense to be a class. I could see an individual gnome becoming a priest, too... but I would consider it remarkable. They're not faithful enough for it to happen often enough to be a class.
As for the Blood Elves, my answer to that is simple: They should have warrior as a class. That they didn't seems silly to me. That felt very much like a piece of "why don't we have one race in the game without warriors" whimsy from a developer.
The best reason why some classes shouldn't be available to all races is best explained in two words: Tauren Rogue. You need to have some uniqueness to each race, some sense of colour and difference. Class restrictions do that. Some I think work, like no gnome healers, and no Tauren or Draenei rogues. Some I think don't, like no Blood Elf warriors, and no human hunters. Your mileage my vary.
Balius Apr 21st 2009 8:04AM
People get killed by the Fel Reaver, the Devilsaur, the Storm Giant, and the green dragon spawns. I think a Tauren rogue works as well as a gnome warrior, since the earth doesn't shake as they approach.
Ametrine Apr 21st 2009 9:22AM
It just doesn't seem fair, "remarkable factor" or not, that every single race in the game can be 100% self reliant (i.e., you could make a raid-group and clear dungeons) without aid from any races other than themselves...
...except gnomes. All the other classes have some form of representation for the the core playstyles - Tanking, Healing, and DPS - while Gnomes have no form of Healing class at all, thus denying them access to a full 1/3 of the game.
Everdawn Apr 20th 2009 6:15PM
Want to know why Sen'jin will never rival any of the other capital cities?
Here's a fun game -
1. Reroll a Troll. Any class except a DK.
2. Listen to the intro. Your answer is in there.
I'll paraphrase...
"...and the fearsome, deadly, powerful, masters of mysticism, the Darkspear Trolls...were run off of their homeland by - "
Wait for it.
And this part, taken word for word, verbatim.
"- by a rampaging band of murlocs."
A.
Rampaging.
Band.
Of.
Murlocs.
That's why Sen'jin will never be more that a few huts that can be quickly taken down in frenzied haste just in case a few lost Murlocs wander by.
Run off.
By a rampaging band.
Of murlocs.
Ouch.
Mireille Apr 20th 2009 6:24PM
I was in denial too the first time I died to Murlocs in SSC. At least the Darkspear own up to it.
Matrim Apr 20th 2009 7:44PM
Apparently you have never seen a band of murlocs in heat.
Scary stuff that. And no, the slime doesn't make very good lube.
Saintgutfree Apr 20th 2009 9:03PM
Thanks Matrim. Thanks alot. Now I don't think I'll ever be able to re-produce.
Raz Apr 21st 2009 6:10AM
@ Everdawn
I believe you have won the internet for today.
Your cookie is in the mail ^_^
Quote the Raven Apr 21st 2009 8:06AM
I concur, that was freakin' hilarious! Fear the Murloc.
Rok Apr 21st 2009 2:10PM
that was GOLD man, PURE GOLD!
Smoe Apr 27th 2009 9:44PM
Have you seen just how many murlocs attacked in that WC3 level?! I was crapping bricks while counting down the seconds of the clock as those crazy gurgling mofo's were wrecking my base. Hell, I even typed in power overwhelming.
Ok lol not really but there sure were a lot of them :P
Caustik Apr 20th 2009 6:18PM
I really hope that Blizzard will use, one day, phasing for old content.
It would be really nice to adapt environment to have Lady Onyxia back in Stormwind, Gnomeregan freed and back to gnomes and such things.
But... I've a bad feeling 'bout this (old content is old content), even if I keep faith in Blizzard (sometimes).
Quote the Raven Apr 21st 2009 8:17AM
With the glaring radiation problem, I think it would be easier and cooler to create "New Gnomeregan" in a future expansion that burrows into the mountains near Ironforge. I mean really, could you imagine Gnomeregan in it's current form being a city that you had to use?
"Ok, I'm standing at the auction house where the old workshop was, I need to get to my class trainer in the old Trogg cave, then to the bank where the old Engineering Labs were."
Unless the Gnomes invent a WoW GPS (maybe not a bad idea either!), this would relegate many players to spending hours just trying to figure out how to get OUT of the capital city. And on the Horde side do something similar for the trolls, create a new island city that came up off the coast of durotar or something. Hmm, coast, Murlocs.... they might get chased off again... Well something, we can get them their own city!