So much seriousness about Gnomes... I'm having a sensory overload!

There are several types of bird leather, including ostrich and chicken. The leather can be cured like any skin, and is usually pockmarked where the feathers attach. The chicken skin that you normally encounter has been cooked, breaking down the cells and proteins, making it easily broken.

Having only played the KoA demo myself, I haven't seen much of how it depicts the Gnomes, but I loved what I did see. I think to give the Gnomes a more serious tone, Blizzard really needs to show them in the front-lines of the coming wars in MoP. Not some special task force group, not mixed with other races, I want to see Gnomish armies armed and mobilized for war. A few regiments of warriors backed up by the greatest mechanized force Azeroth has ever seen should do wonders for their tone.

"Do you think there is any way for Blizzard to stop treating Gnomes as a punchline and actually give them a serious tone at times?"

No. But I'd actually like to see it.

I'm a Horde player, but I've always loved gnomes (no, not for dinner). I basically love gnomes in any game that has them (my D&D/Pathfinder group makes fun of me for always playing a gnome), and I, too, would love to see them given a more balanced treatment in-game and in media. I think they tried to do this a little in Cata with the introduction of a new militaristic bent to gnomes. The "gnome special ops" was a solid hit in my book. IMO it's okay for them to be silly, but it would be nice if we saw them able to bring the pain if they need to. (See: goblins. Pretty silly most of the time, but if you mess with them you'll find yourself embargoed out of house and home. Or possibly your home will be filled with explosives. Or an enthusiastic work crew will be drilling for oil in your kitchen.)

Gnomes are a big part of the initial part of the entry to KoA. If you can download the demo and give it a try, if only to see what decent representation of the race can be.

You won't be disappointed even if you don't like gnomes.

WoW is all about the racial stereotype (fantasy in general, really). Gnomes are adorably optimistic. Blood Elves are shallow, effete snobs. Dwarves are drunken Scotsmen. Pygmies are...we won't go there.

Blizzard gets away with it by playing most of the more outrageous stereotypes for laughs, and by generally avoiding offensive real world analogies (but about those pygmies, again...). But if you want to get really serious about it, the tendency in fantasy to assume that race = destiny (behaviour, class, etc) is rooted in racial views from a hundred years ago. In some ways, WoW has challenged these conventions (a more sympathetic portrayal of Orcs, for example). But the trend is still there.

To be fair, there was a gnome in the Burning Crusade Cinematic. I you watch it again, look for when the undead Mage is attacked by Murlocs. He blows them all away with a fire nova thing.

There's a gnome rogue there. You have to look real hard for him.

Partly, I think its the player base more than Blizzard that makes gnomes a joke. Now, Blizz doesn't *help* don't get me wrong. But players do it just as badly if not worse. I don't know how they could possibly change that at this point.

@Angus
I've looked over that video several times and all I see are Murlocs.

This is where the Undead Warlock comes in just after the Human Mage exits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVPZIJV_xGg&t=2m5s

Gnomes are srz business!

No but seriously, in traditional fantasy literature (ie Lord of the Rings), gnomes, hobbits, halflings, "little people" have mannerisms and qualities that are usually associated with being jovial prankster types. They are kind of sneaky, quick, funny. In KOA the designers decided to make gnomes more like... I'm trying to think of a fantasy race that fits that model. Basically they are highly involved in politics and thinking like politicians. If someone knows a fantasy race like that, remind me, because I can't think of one off the top of my head. But yeah, political intrigue appears to be the main driving force behind the gnome race in KOA, along with profit and scientific endeavors.

I take gnomes seriously. You see, last weekend I offered 1000g for the first guildie to kill a gnome player and send me the screenshot. It was a huge success and we'll probably turn that into a weekly event.

I've never viewed Gnomes as anything other than a fairly serious race. Yes, in-game you don't really see any angry or depressed Gnomes, but beneath their generally jovial exterior lies a relatively hard, calculating nature which can be glimpsed occassionally (cf the quests in Tanaris where you help the Gnomes to gain favour with the Steamwheedle cartel).

Gnomes *should* have had their time in the sun when they retook Gnomregon. Same with trolls and their Island... although the troll's campaing was actually serious. The gnomish one was still silly. The gnomish starting area should be serious (help the wounded/infected, help clean up) but it's still silly.

I don't see this changing, really. Even goblins, who are definitely a very pop cultury race and were silly before Cata are now deliciously dark and fully fleshed out. I don't like gnomes, but id like to see them get a makeover similar to goblins (with their own flavor of course). Who knows, I didn't like goblins before theirmakeover, either.

@Pyromelter "But yeah, political intrigue appears to be the main driving force behind the gnome race in KOA, along with profit and scientific endeavors" OK I'LL BUY IT!!!!

And to the OP, well...Gnomes are awesome, I hope someone in Blizzard developes their potential.

Personally, I like both the serious and lighthearted depictions of gnomes. As a Veteran D&D player who enjoyed both the worlds of Aebir-Toril and Krynn, I think they can be done either way.

Obviously Blizzard's gnomes are much more akin to the gnomes of Krynn (albeit a bit less destructive (yes, you heard me, I said less)).

The more serious and wizardly gnomes of Faerun are equally awesome though.

So really, either way you spin them, gnomes are just a cool race IMO.

Gnomes have always been depicted as the humorous, light-hearted race. Back in WarCraft 2 (where Gnomes were first seen) the Gnomish Gyrocopter had amusing, funny quotes. They were considered "crazy" for inventing and piloting such a thing.

While I don't ever want them to stop being that "humorous, light-hearted race", I wish Blizzard would sometimes stop dismissing them out of hand as comedy relief purely. Such as answering a question on a Q&A like this, "Will Gnomes ever be taken more seriously?", "No, they're the funny race. Their entire existence is a joke."

Would like to see us questing for a council of unbelievably powerful Gnome Mages, levitating like the Guardians of Oa.

As a long-time gnome warlock, I too would like to see gnomes get some respect. I cannot remember where I read it - it may have even have been on this website - but someone once put forward that gnomes get made fun of because we secretly terrify all the other races. Gnomes are brilliant, without the ongoing issues the goblins suffer from due to the way they gained their intellect, and while we're short in stature, we're actually ridiculously strong for our size, easily capable of the same martial prowess a human can achieve. And despite this level of superiority, we're not condescending; we're friendly with everyone we meet, cheerful, accepting. Before Thermaplugg went so wrong, a gnome killing another gnome was unheard of; that's why his betrayal was so effective, because a gnome would have never have expected another gnome to backstab them. In short, gnomes are practically perfect... and nobody likes the guy who seems perfect.

Hmm, I may have to play KoA now; their portrayal of gnomes sounds a lot like the ones in the Eberron D&D setting.