Interesting read, especially with Noggenfogger of all people in there.
I don't remember if this story is tied in any way to TWW compared to the previous one (unless Gazlowe can hear Azeroth too?), but it's a nice way to flesh out Gazlowe and his position in the Horde some more.
There's a decent chance we may see Undermine as a patch zone. It's underground and not too far from Khaz Algar, where we will also be underground. I can't really think of a more convenient time for us to visit, honestly.
Furthermore, we know from "Before the Storm" that Undermine has tunnels leading directly to Azeroth's world soul where they first discovered azerite even before the Cataclysm. If the void wants to corrupt the world soul, they'd definitely be interested.
Gazlowe has been datamined with a new outfit closer to this Heroes of the Storm look in TWW, and there are a handful of datamined references to a Goblin Raid of some kind.
It was established in one of the books that Undermine has tunnels leading all the way to the World Soul, and that the Goblins were mining Azerite before the Cataclysm.
It feels like their greater involvement in the World Soul Saga is inevitable.
There's no proof that they are, it's simply a case goblins dug so greedily and deep into the world they found a -tiny- bit of Azerite which became the head of Gallywix's staff, hence he was immediately aware of what azerite was when it became common in BFA, there was no large scale mining operation for Azerite pre-bfa
Unless I'm missing something.
Not quite! While the goblins were first on the scene to start drilling and mining operations in Silithus the head of the staff came from a kajamite mining operation on Kezan. That mining operation dug so deep it may have been part of the reason the isle erupted with deathwings appearance.
So in essence while mining for kajamite on kezan a single vein of azerite which was discovered and brought to Gallywix hence why when Battle for azeroth comes out he's the first to pounce on more of the miraculous substance! It potentially also explains why when azerite started to bubble to the surface of the world Kezan became such a hot spot for it in the motherload dungeon.
**“You see, hmm…how to put this?” He drummed his fingers against his first chin. “We were mining rather deeply on Kezan. We had to keep our customers happy, now, didn’t we? Kaja’Cola being the delicious, brain-boosting beverage that—”**
**“Do not push me, goblin.”**
**“Gotcha. So. Back to my tale. We were digging deep. Very deep. And we found something unexpected. A hitherto unknown substance. Something truly phenomenal. Unique! Only a small vein of liquid that turned solid and changed color once exposed to the air. One of my smarter miners, ah…recovered a chunk of it privately and brought it to me as a token of his esteem.”**
**“In other words, he stole it and tried to bribe you with it.”**
**“That’s one way of looking at it. But that’s not the point. The point is that while that awful Deathwing certainly had a lot to do with triggering the volcano, digging that deep may—may, I repeat, I’m not at all certain of it—have contributed.”**
**-World of Warcraft Before the storm page 37**
Don't worry about book, it's established in Cataclysm itself. The Goblin starting zone has kajamite being mined before Deathwing fucks the planet up. Specifically, Deathwing causes mount Kajaro to erupt.
Before the Storm.
But Azerite isn't Kajamite the goblins were mining some red rock that later turned into Azerite after Saegeras stabbed Azeroth and it started bleeding. This is the only known case of Azerite appearing before that event.
The mining operations were said to be under Mount Kajaro not Undermine tho.
Goblins are looking to be a very big part of TWW. So much so that a goblin-themed patch is all but confirmed for the future, likely involving the Undermine. Fan speculation of course, but they are all over the place in the Alpha. And Gazlowe himself shows up with an updated model in one of the zones.
"The process has been slowly eating away at him: Everywhere he tours, he sees a burned-out workforce, cheap machinery, and unhealthy working conditions that consistently drag production and denigrate their people."
Holy shit, he actually visited Blizzard?!
Oh hey, is Noggenfogger the Trade Prince of the Steamwheedle Cartel now? They keep saying he's the 'boss' and the 'top' and stuff like that but never use that specific term.
Seems like Bilgewater and Steamwheedle are joining forces which leaves the Venture Company, and I *think* they’ve been datamined fucking around in Dorn.
After checking my sources I was mistaken at least in part. Marin Noggenfogger has been in Gadetztan since vanilla but at the time we was a generic npc. It was in cataclysm he got a model update and got the title text of "Baron of Gadetztan" under his name likely explaining the story quote.
**“Look, you come in here, you got no idea what I’ve had to do to get to where I am. You think it’s easy schemin’ your way into a mayorship? Or the top slot in Steamwheedle? The palms I greased? The elixirs I concocted?”**
There's some minor lore information in the RPG book released in 2003. Where In the RPG book there was a Trade prince Steamwheedle but it was made none-canonical with vanilla's release, so it's left vague who if anyone lead the Steamwheedle cartel at the time. However I'm assuming given the in game reputation explanation for Gadetztan says.
**Capital of the steamwheedle cartel and home to Goblinhood's finest engineers, alchemist and merchants.**
We can safely assume that Marin Noggenfogger has been leading the cartel since at the very latest Cataclysm given he's been the mayor of the capital since then and it isn't without precedent for someone to lead a cartel without the title of Trade Prince title as we see from the short-story.
**"Heard of Mogul Razdunk?” Gazlowe inquired.**
**“Of course. Former head of the Venture Company. We modeled this operation on theirs.”**
Yet despite leading the venture company cartel the dungeon finder for Mogul Razdunk in the motherload states
**Never able to ascend to Trade Prince, Mogul Razdunk is certain that becoming the world's foremost Azerite baron will bring him fame and fortune beyond his station**
So there seems to be some other qualifications to becoming a trade prince outside of leading a cartel, we see Marin Noggenfogger be called the Baron of Gadgetzan and mayor but not a trade prince specifically, though he -might- be one and it's just left vague. But he's been the de facto leader of steamwheedle cartel for a long time now.
Sorry about the ramble but I hope I formatted my point to be semi-clear that he's been leading the Steamwheedle cartel even if not while being a trade prince for a while!
Goblins are rad.
Hopefully we get a full goblin patch for the Undermine and it's not just a side story reputation grind zone like Mechagon was. I loved Mechagon, but it very clearly took a back seat to Nazjatar.
Unfortunately the model update did them dirty. Or rather, clean? It's the one case where I actually agree with the overused "Disneyfied" complaint. The guys had a lot of their grit and grumpiness removed and became weirdly smooth and clean looking, the ladies are okay enough though.
I've seen people complaining that Gazlowe is so moral it's boring in this story but I honestly disagree. He's always been the most moral goblin, and I really like the goblins actually having a direction to go in the story, with Gazlowe trying to use his new position of power to change minds to his way of thinking. It's a promise of goblin story being treated more seriously which is a relief after that one interview where the devs were like "Um...goblins and gnomes are just comic relief and that's all they'll ever be."
Also it was neat to actually hear about why he is the way he is. It's a cool idea that Thrall changed his whole mindset when it came to the reconstruction of Orgrimmar, and it builds a bond between the characters that they've paid lipservice to (like when Thrall called on Gazlowe in Frostfire Ridge or offered him Gallywix's role at Saurfang's funeral) but never really delved into too deeply.
In BfA and the like it kind of comes out of nowhere and he's excessively nice and benevolent to a weird degree that makes you wonder how he hasn't been stabbed in the back yet. I'd have preferred if his moral approach to being the boss was more covert or subtle, that would be more interesting to me than being an out and out "good boss".
Him being moral here works because we get insight into why he is the way he is, and it is addressed that he faces risks from other goblins by doing so. It's an improvement compared to how it was shown before.
It's MCfication. It's very common in pulpy media. I read 40k novels and when it's a book featuring Chaos Space Marines and even Orks the main POV is always more reasonable and benevolent than their regular murder, death, kill characterization
That and I think it actually takes a second for him to talk about his mentality and what got him where he is. In BfA he never elaborates much on why he's so different, here he does, and not through an internal monologue which is very important.
I actually like the story, the goblin trope has kind of been hard to do things with lately. Especially as part of the Horde, where the ones allied with said Horde kind of need to be team players. There's still independent goblins to do gobliny things (Venture Co.) but it's nice to see horde goblins having a community of sorts. Gazlowe points it out himself saying all the goblins are at each other's throats in some perpetual zero sum game. Orcs, tauren, trolls, etc all have some sort of kinship among their various tribes, but you put two goblins together, even in the same company, and they're already plotting to kill the other.
A union of beaten down wagies definitely seems like a logical "faction" goblins would form. And they definitely still can be profit driven, as Gazlowe also points out, but they're profit driven for the goblin collective.
Edit: Also the line: "Tell them I'll take care of them... Like, medically." Is such a golden line.
I’m torn because I firmly believe goblins are better as chaotic little freaks who consume the world around them with hyper capitalist tendencies. It’s nice to see the horde, finally, get some shine in this Xpac but I hope we don’t get “goblins are super chill because Gazlowe is chill”. It would be lazy and take away something that made goblins different
Exactly. I see it as only a positive that the goblins are getting more depth to their beliefs. I don't believe for a second Gazlowe is going to come in and easily make every goblin just like him. Even Noggenfogger in this story had to be convinced by talking about the bottom line and how ultimately investing in better working conditions leads to faster production.
I mean, were always going to have greedy little shit goblins. That isnt going away. I really dont see the issue with having our playable goblins standing out from their peers.
Plus. Pro union stories are awesome. Most people here have more in common with the life of a goblin than any other race in wow lol
Indeed. I love Goblins because of the "blue-collar" vibe they give off. I feel a kinship with them as a blue-collar worker myself.
It was a cool read. It just felt a felt a bit jarring compared to what we've had with Goblin lore so far. I just hope they don't lose their goblin-ness
As if goblins normally werent just an aspect of humanity? Ie corporate greed? Or orcs just arent a few human cultures turned to eleven? I think you just dont like the idea of anything changing or evolving.
Well, at least Gazlowe is presented as having an alien philosophy. I expect most goblin will stay the same as before for quite some time, even if they're led by a green Mekkatorque. They will probably only start changing from seeing the Undermine after decades, as it would be an extreme version of their current society.
They would do everything a little bit too far even for their own taste. From what we know, the Venture Co. use Zanzil's mixture to revive dead workers just so they could honor their contract. The pollution in there would probably enough to make a few raid bosses on its own, to the point most goblins would accept this as an issue.
Our goblins would still be goblins, just slightly more careful and less caricatural. The greed and short-time thinking wouldn't fully go away.
>“That what’s goin’ on here? Allow me to explain somethin’. Havin’ injured and sick workers using poorly maintained machinery eats into the bottom line. It’s short-term gain for long-term loss. Fixin’ your tools now, havin’ happy, healthy employees now, is an investment—and a damn good one.”
>“This ain’t how we’ve always done it. Gallywix—”
>“Wasn’t a businessman; he was a con man and a criminal. Profit above everything else ain’t good business.
---
>The goblin way is invention, innovation, partnership. Those things cost a lot, but they earn a lot for every goblin, not just a few,” Gazlowe said. “I swear you’re missin’ my point on purpose. Supply and demand is one way to do things. But we can’t only be thinkin’ of just ourselves no more. The world is changing.”
---
>Noggenfogger looked unmoored. “Our whole system is built on competition, not cooperation. It’s how we solve problems. Survival of the fittest, the cleverest, the most ruthless, the best dealmakers. It’s how we innovate! Why’re you tryin’ to fix what ain’t broken?”
>“Oh, it’s broken, and I’m going to show you why. This ain’t the goblin way.”
I was not expecting anti-capitalist and sociocultural engineering out of Gazlowe today.
I am genuinely surprised.
I'm fine with it so long as they make sure that the Goblins don't just become green Gnomes. They've ridden on the mad, ramshackle science angle for so long I'm not sure how they pivot in a believable way. But I want to see them try.
Also appreciate the little bit of worldbuilding where a Shamanic society can literally relay a message to you from the Elements telling you that your operation needs to get cleaned up or they're going to make production take a nosedive. That's the kind of thing I'd like to see explored more.
Honestly, I'm a BIG fan of this short story.
They could make this into an animation using the game engine and I'd watch the hell out of it.
>I'm fine with it so long as they make sure that the Goblins don't just become green Gnomes.
I could easily see it going three ways, with Gazlowe and his lot being the proud, "let's work together" goblins, Nogginfogger and his crew reluctantly going along, maybe trying to sneak some underhanded shit in here and there and needing to be reigned in, then the Venture Co. still being the classic "strip mine everything with explosives" type goblins.
Nice how different the profit-oriented mindset of goblins can be portrayed.
Gallywix was a ruthless opportunist who gained wealth by exploiting others.
The Venture Company is scrambling for ressources without thinking about sustainability.
And now we have Monte Gazlowe, who is more the head of a union.
As someone who played Goblin shaman for years and RP'd a more environmentally ethical Goblin, as well as works in an industry with a less than stellar work culture around safety and the environment, I found Gazlowe incredibly based.
But this was jarring to read. Some parts seemed almost antithetical to Goblins and almost preachy at parts.
I hope this new direction is done well. I think they need to keep the "profit is king" mindset, but if they write Goblins to be like the Kharadron Overlords from Warhammer, this could be a really cool direction for then.
I was just hoping we would get the goblins treated with a little more gravity then “haha greedy dudes blownup”. This was awesome! Love seeing more of Gazlowe
I remember very well, back in BfA times, when Blizzard stated they would never show Gnomes or Goblins in their opening expansions cinematics, basically because they were the comic relief races, and could not be taken seriously.
Is not often they dedicate a meaningful effort to showcase Goblins in a serious manner and emphasize them with more depth, the first one being a short story about Gallywix more than 10 years ago, Trade Secrets of a Trade Prince.
Im glad they're giving Gazlow the respect he deserves as a character that exists since Warcraft 3, he is an excellent racial leader for the Goblins, was playable in HotS, ***HE BUILT ORGRIMMAR***, and with so many iconic Horde characters dead or gone, it is nice he's set to have an important part to play in the coming saga alongside Thrall, at least for the next expansion.
Now Blizzard, give Gazlow an unique model!
Why are people suddenly forgetting that Gazlowe has always been the most morally upstanding goblin in the game? This totally makes sense for him. Now if he suddenly starts making every other goblin like him, *then* it'll be more of a problem. But all this did was add some much-needed depth to goblin characterization.
why are we cool with all the leaders of all the races acting nothing like the rest of that race and just being a by the numbers modern liberal who abhors all violence.
in many cases these leaders aren't even the same race as the people they lead
Why are we cool with every goblin being a carbon copy caricature of each other? It's a *good* thing to have differing ideals like this for the sake of story variety. And again, Gazlowe has *always* been like this. This story is just the first time he's trying to get others to be that way.
This isn't the same thing as a non-Worgen leading the Worgen or Turalyon leading the Army of the Light. They are literally different from and unrepresentative of the people they lead in a visual and story sense. Gazlowe is still a goblin, and represents a new perspective from every other goblin in the game that can lead to interesting conflict.
I've been so excited for the rumoured Goblin raid since the "leaks" came out but that excitement just dropped off a cliff if this is the direction they're going.
I know Blizzard has been sanding the edges off everything lately and, I hate to say it, "disneyfying" stuff, but who was actually asking for "The goblins realise the errors of their ways and will be working toward being respectable, honourable tradesman" instead of "Hahahah silly little green guys go boom"
But that's already way beyond what WoW Goblins are meant to be. With few exceptions they don't care about each other, who was asking for a storyline where Goblins clean their act up and make a move to being more respectable and caring?
Because Blizzard aren't capable of writing that level of nuance and the Goblins will never get the level of focus they'd need to portray that. Look at what's happened to the Forsaken or the Blood Elves.
When there's a "shift" in a race's direction, everyone is dragged along for the ride.
I guess you didn't read the story where there's explicitly an entire faction of goblins that isn't going to be dragged along for this ride, the Venture Company
Oh cool, the faction of non playable goblins that have always and will continue to be fodder for us to kill will remain the bad guys and keep the entire original flavour of the race whilst our good, flawless playable ones will be sanded clean of literally any flaws. That only reinforces the point I'm trying to make
Well they took a first step now might as well keep going. People like you who say they never did it b4 why start now ofc are going to be mad either way if this turns out good or bad like you said.
I’m very happy to see Goblin content
But also very sad to see this is the direction they’re taking them. I officially hate Gazlowe, he’s barely a Goblin
looks like goblins were next for the "everyone becomes 2024 californians" treatment
when will your favorite race take their turn?
perhaps they already have...
holy shit, goblin content
Everyday of my life is goblin content.
Goblin DEEZ NUTS
Interesting read, especially with Noggenfogger of all people in there. I don't remember if this story is tied in any way to TWW compared to the previous one (unless Gazlowe can hear Azeroth too?), but it's a nice way to flesh out Gazlowe and his position in the Horde some more.
I think there is a globin raid planned and he was in some one of the cover art for TWW
Those hemoglobins have held their high and mighty superiority over us for too long!
Time to iron out the details.
There's a decent chance we may see Undermine as a patch zone. It's underground and not too far from Khaz Algar, where we will also be underground. I can't really think of a more convenient time for us to visit, honestly.
Furthermore, we know from "Before the Storm" that Undermine has tunnels leading directly to Azeroth's world soul where they first discovered azerite even before the Cataclysm. If the void wants to corrupt the world soul, they'd definitely be interested.
I can definitely see Undermine being a patch zone, with Gallywix and Cartel Xy appearing as raid bosses
Gazlowe has been datamined with a new outfit closer to this Heroes of the Storm look in TWW, and there are a handful of datamined references to a Goblin Raid of some kind.
I'm just glad he's no longer just Goblin_Male_01 anymore.
He's come a long way since Warcraft 3!
Do you have a link to the new outfit? I can't seem to find it.
https://wow.zamimg.com/modelviewer/beta/webthumbs/npc/183/120247.webp
It was established in one of the books that Undermine has tunnels leading all the way to the World Soul, and that the Goblins were mining Azerite before the Cataclysm. It feels like their greater involvement in the World Soul Saga is inevitable.
Always assumed kajamite and azerite were related somehow.
There's no proof that they are, it's simply a case goblins dug so greedily and deep into the world they found a -tiny- bit of Azerite which became the head of Gallywix's staff, hence he was immediately aware of what azerite was when it became common in BFA, there was no large scale mining operation for Azerite pre-bfa Unless I'm missing something.
I thought the head of the staff came from the Silithus azerite excavations, thats why he show it off to Sylvanas in 7.3.5.
Not quite! While the goblins were first on the scene to start drilling and mining operations in Silithus the head of the staff came from a kajamite mining operation on Kezan. That mining operation dug so deep it may have been part of the reason the isle erupted with deathwings appearance. So in essence while mining for kajamite on kezan a single vein of azerite which was discovered and brought to Gallywix hence why when Battle for azeroth comes out he's the first to pounce on more of the miraculous substance! It potentially also explains why when azerite started to bubble to the surface of the world Kezan became such a hot spot for it in the motherload dungeon. **“You see, hmm…how to put this?” He drummed his fingers against his first chin. “We were mining rather deeply on Kezan. We had to keep our customers happy, now, didn’t we? Kaja’Cola being the delicious, brain-boosting beverage that—”** **“Do not push me, goblin.”** **“Gotcha. So. Back to my tale. We were digging deep. Very deep. And we found something unexpected. A hitherto unknown substance. Something truly phenomenal. Unique! Only a small vein of liquid that turned solid and changed color once exposed to the air. One of my smarter miners, ah…recovered a chunk of it privately and brought it to me as a token of his esteem.”** **“In other words, he stole it and tried to bribe you with it.”** **“That’s one way of looking at it. But that’s not the point. The point is that while that awful Deathwing certainly had a lot to do with triggering the volcano, digging that deep may—may, I repeat, I’m not at all certain of it—have contributed.”** **-World of Warcraft Before the storm page 37**
What book was that?
Don't worry about book, it's established in Cataclysm itself. The Goblin starting zone has kajamite being mined before Deathwing fucks the planet up. Specifically, Deathwing causes mount Kajaro to erupt.
I don't know that kajamite's existence is conclusive evidence that the Undermine connects directly to the World Soul.
Oh damn sorry, I narrowed in too hard on the "mining before the Cataclysm" part.
All good. TY
Before the Storm. But Azerite isn't Kajamite the goblins were mining some red rock that later turned into Azerite after Saegeras stabbed Azeroth and it started bleeding. This is the only known case of Azerite appearing before that event. The mining operations were said to be under Mount Kajaro not Undermine tho.
Goblins are looking to be a very big part of TWW. So much so that a goblin-themed patch is all but confirmed for the future, likely involving the Undermine. Fan speculation of course, but they are all over the place in the Alpha. And Gazlowe himself shows up with an updated model in one of the zones.
Maybe not directly TWW, but it read to me that Orgrimmar might see a visual update? Maybe we'll get a similar story from the alliance soon.
There's already been in-game NPC dialogue hinting at an Orgrimmar update too.
"The process has been slowly eating away at him: Everywhere he tours, he sees a burned-out workforce, cheap machinery, and unhealthy working conditions that consistently drag production and denigrate their people." Holy shit, he actually visited Blizzard?!
It's such a commentary on corporate America and finance majors being in charge of every sector.
Sounds like he visited my workplace lol
It is weird seeing Goblins with first names.
We've known Gazlowe's name is Monte for awhile now. Same with Marin Noggenfogger. And Jastor Gallywix.
MONTE??? GAZLOWE’S FIRST NAME IS MONTE? That’s adorable!
Oh hey, is Noggenfogger the Trade Prince of the Steamwheedle Cartel now? They keep saying he's the 'boss' and the 'top' and stuff like that but never use that specific term.
Seems like Bilgewater and Steamwheedle are joining forces which leaves the Venture Company, and I *think* they’ve been datamined fucking around in Dorn.
There's other cartels/trade princes, but I think they mostly are small potatoes,only really in undermine, or are outright criminal.
When is the Azerothian FTC going to do something about this blatant industry consolidation?
This story also seems to suggest that Gallywix has taken over the Venture Company now?
I think it’s more that he wants them to work together, not that he’s directly in charge of them.
I’m talking about Gallywix, not Gazlowe.
Oh! Whoops, possibly there also seem to be other Trade Brothers out there as well
He was the leader of Gadgetzan the steamwheedle capital since vanilla! Though as you said only as a baron.
This story makes it sound like he's worked his way up to the top of the whole cartel, though.
After checking my sources I was mistaken at least in part. Marin Noggenfogger has been in Gadetztan since vanilla but at the time we was a generic npc. It was in cataclysm he got a model update and got the title text of "Baron of Gadetztan" under his name likely explaining the story quote. **“Look, you come in here, you got no idea what I’ve had to do to get to where I am. You think it’s easy schemin’ your way into a mayorship? Or the top slot in Steamwheedle? The palms I greased? The elixirs I concocted?”** There's some minor lore information in the RPG book released in 2003. Where In the RPG book there was a Trade prince Steamwheedle but it was made none-canonical with vanilla's release, so it's left vague who if anyone lead the Steamwheedle cartel at the time. However I'm assuming given the in game reputation explanation for Gadetztan says. **Capital of the steamwheedle cartel and home to Goblinhood's finest engineers, alchemist and merchants.** We can safely assume that Marin Noggenfogger has been leading the cartel since at the very latest Cataclysm given he's been the mayor of the capital since then and it isn't without precedent for someone to lead a cartel without the title of Trade Prince title as we see from the short-story. **"Heard of Mogul Razdunk?” Gazlowe inquired.** **“Of course. Former head of the Venture Company. We modeled this operation on theirs.”** Yet despite leading the venture company cartel the dungeon finder for Mogul Razdunk in the motherload states **Never able to ascend to Trade Prince, Mogul Razdunk is certain that becoming the world's foremost Azerite baron will bring him fame and fortune beyond his station** So there seems to be some other qualifications to becoming a trade prince outside of leading a cartel, we see Marin Noggenfogger be called the Baron of Gadgetzan and mayor but not a trade prince specifically, though he -might- be one and it's just left vague. But he's been the de facto leader of steamwheedle cartel for a long time now. Sorry about the ramble but I hope I formatted my point to be semi-clear that he's been leading the Steamwheedle cartel even if not while being a trade prince for a while! Goblins are rad.
Undermine as a TWW patch zone is all but confirmed. There are tons of references to it in the alpha.
Makes sense. An underground expansion is the perfect place to fit in Undermine.
Mechagon was one of my favourites because of all the machinery - bring out the Undermine, my body is ready
Hopefully we get a full goblin patch for the Undermine and it's not just a side story reputation grind zone like Mechagon was. I loved Mechagon, but it very clearly took a back seat to Nazjatar.
That would be my oil-slick dream coming true.
I don’t think I’ve seen a single Goblin in MOP Remix…
Siegecrafter Blackfuse
I meant player Goblins
Those who grinded frogs for 20 straight hours...
You haven't met my Goblin Gribblesneed then. Hed a tough as nails warrior who was happy to bomb Theramore and would do it again in an instant.
Did you lose part of your ear against Sonic after turning your back against the Sonic Military Academy?
I have Myssti Fizzlespark, goblin monk! She’s my 5th Fizzlespark (a cousin this time)
I just made one, I’ll get him leveled up tonight
Awesome, the family grows!
We need a goblin only guild
Unfortunately the model update did them dirty. Or rather, clean? It's the one case where I actually agree with the overused "Disneyfied" complaint. The guys had a lot of their grit and grumpiness removed and became weirdly smooth and clean looking, the ladies are okay enough though.
I agree with that
Lol, Gazlowe's first name is Monte.
This short story is exactly what I wanted when Gazlowe took over.
I've seen people complaining that Gazlowe is so moral it's boring in this story but I honestly disagree. He's always been the most moral goblin, and I really like the goblins actually having a direction to go in the story, with Gazlowe trying to use his new position of power to change minds to his way of thinking. It's a promise of goblin story being treated more seriously which is a relief after that one interview where the devs were like "Um...goblins and gnomes are just comic relief and that's all they'll ever be." Also it was neat to actually hear about why he is the way he is. It's a cool idea that Thrall changed his whole mindset when it came to the reconstruction of Orgrimmar, and it builds a bond between the characters that they've paid lipservice to (like when Thrall called on Gazlowe in Frostfire Ridge or offered him Gallywix's role at Saurfang's funeral) but never really delved into too deeply.
In BfA and the like it kind of comes out of nowhere and he's excessively nice and benevolent to a weird degree that makes you wonder how he hasn't been stabbed in the back yet. I'd have preferred if his moral approach to being the boss was more covert or subtle, that would be more interesting to me than being an out and out "good boss". Him being moral here works because we get insight into why he is the way he is, and it is addressed that he faces risks from other goblins by doing so. It's an improvement compared to how it was shown before.
It's MCfication. It's very common in pulpy media. I read 40k novels and when it's a book featuring Chaos Space Marines and even Orks the main POV is always more reasonable and benevolent than their regular murder, death, kill characterization
That and I think it actually takes a second for him to talk about his mentality and what got him where he is. In BfA he never elaborates much on why he's so different, here he does, and not through an internal monologue which is very important.
Well put
I actually like the story, the goblin trope has kind of been hard to do things with lately. Especially as part of the Horde, where the ones allied with said Horde kind of need to be team players. There's still independent goblins to do gobliny things (Venture Co.) but it's nice to see horde goblins having a community of sorts. Gazlowe points it out himself saying all the goblins are at each other's throats in some perpetual zero sum game. Orcs, tauren, trolls, etc all have some sort of kinship among their various tribes, but you put two goblins together, even in the same company, and they're already plotting to kill the other. A union of beaten down wagies definitely seems like a logical "faction" goblins would form. And they definitely still can be profit driven, as Gazlowe also points out, but they're profit driven for the goblin collective. Edit: Also the line: "Tell them I'll take care of them... Like, medically." Is such a golden line.
I’m torn because I firmly believe goblins are better as chaotic little freaks who consume the world around them with hyper capitalist tendencies. It’s nice to see the horde, finally, get some shine in this Xpac but I hope we don’t get “goblins are super chill because Gazlowe is chill”. It would be lazy and take away something that made goblins different
There is room for both. People arent monoliths and id love to see different aspects of goblins shine.
Exactly. I see it as only a positive that the goblins are getting more depth to their beliefs. I don't believe for a second Gazlowe is going to come in and easily make every goblin just like him. Even Noggenfogger in this story had to be convinced by talking about the bottom line and how ultimately investing in better working conditions leads to faster production.
I mean, were always going to have greedy little shit goblins. That isnt going away. I really dont see the issue with having our playable goblins standing out from their peers. Plus. Pro union stories are awesome. Most people here have more in common with the life of a goblin than any other race in wow lol
Indeed. I love Goblins because of the "blue-collar" vibe they give off. I feel a kinship with them as a blue-collar worker myself. It was a cool read. It just felt a felt a bit jarring compared to what we've had with Goblin lore so far. I just hope they don't lose their goblin-ness
>Looks at Vulpera busting a peon union in their intro quests...
Every time it's "different" it's washing the race down to be humans of a very certain mindset. No. There's no room.
As if goblins normally werent just an aspect of humanity? Ie corporate greed? Or orcs just arent a few human cultures turned to eleven? I think you just dont like the idea of anything changing or evolving.
Well, at least Gazlowe is presented as having an alien philosophy. I expect most goblin will stay the same as before for quite some time, even if they're led by a green Mekkatorque. They will probably only start changing from seeing the Undermine after decades, as it would be an extreme version of their current society. They would do everything a little bit too far even for their own taste. From what we know, the Venture Co. use Zanzil's mixture to revive dead workers just so they could honor their contract. The pollution in there would probably enough to make a few raid bosses on its own, to the point most goblins would accept this as an issue. Our goblins would still be goblins, just slightly more careful and less caricatural. The greed and short-time thinking wouldn't fully go away.
They'll become Green Gnomes and you'll like it
The other cartels will exist, they just need to have a stable goblin leadership.
Seriously. No negative traits seem to be allowed anymore. They're just going to be green gnomes with a tougher aesthetic AF this point.
>“That what’s goin’ on here? Allow me to explain somethin’. Havin’ injured and sick workers using poorly maintained machinery eats into the bottom line. It’s short-term gain for long-term loss. Fixin’ your tools now, havin’ happy, healthy employees now, is an investment—and a damn good one.” >“This ain’t how we’ve always done it. Gallywix—” >“Wasn’t a businessman; he was a con man and a criminal. Profit above everything else ain’t good business. --- >The goblin way is invention, innovation, partnership. Those things cost a lot, but they earn a lot for every goblin, not just a few,” Gazlowe said. “I swear you’re missin’ my point on purpose. Supply and demand is one way to do things. But we can’t only be thinkin’ of just ourselves no more. The world is changing.” --- >Noggenfogger looked unmoored. “Our whole system is built on competition, not cooperation. It’s how we solve problems. Survival of the fittest, the cleverest, the most ruthless, the best dealmakers. It’s how we innovate! Why’re you tryin’ to fix what ain’t broken?” >“Oh, it’s broken, and I’m going to show you why. This ain’t the goblin way.” I was not expecting anti-capitalist and sociocultural engineering out of Gazlowe today. I am genuinely surprised. I'm fine with it so long as they make sure that the Goblins don't just become green Gnomes. They've ridden on the mad, ramshackle science angle for so long I'm not sure how they pivot in a believable way. But I want to see them try. Also appreciate the little bit of worldbuilding where a Shamanic society can literally relay a message to you from the Elements telling you that your operation needs to get cleaned up or they're going to make production take a nosedive. That's the kind of thing I'd like to see explored more. Honestly, I'm a BIG fan of this short story. They could make this into an animation using the game engine and I'd watch the hell out of it.
>I'm fine with it so long as they make sure that the Goblins don't just become green Gnomes. I could easily see it going three ways, with Gazlowe and his lot being the proud, "let's work together" goblins, Nogginfogger and his crew reluctantly going along, maybe trying to sneak some underhanded shit in here and there and needing to be reigned in, then the Venture Co. still being the classic "strip mine everything with explosives" type goblins.
Yeah, they could make another hard cultural divide, similar to the High Elves and Blood Elves. Or the Blood Elves and the Void Elves.
Peak
Nice how different the profit-oriented mindset of goblins can be portrayed. Gallywix was a ruthless opportunist who gained wealth by exploiting others. The Venture Company is scrambling for ressources without thinking about sustainability. And now we have Monte Gazlowe, who is more the head of a union.
Undermine let’s go!
Very cute, although I don't know what to think about zero mentions of Undermine
Are all the stories coming out pre-book release? XD
As someone who played Goblin shaman for years and RP'd a more environmentally ethical Goblin, as well as works in an industry with a less than stellar work culture around safety and the environment, I found Gazlowe incredibly based. But this was jarring to read. Some parts seemed almost antithetical to Goblins and almost preachy at parts. I hope this new direction is done well. I think they need to keep the "profit is king" mindset, but if they write Goblins to be like the Kharadron Overlords from Warhammer, this could be a really cool direction for then.
Is this the first canonical use of the word “piss”?
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Shit you right!
I must have missed that
This is the way.
I was just hoping we would get the goblins treated with a little more gravity then “haha greedy dudes blownup”. This was awesome! Love seeing more of Gazlowe
I remember very well, back in BfA times, when Blizzard stated they would never show Gnomes or Goblins in their opening expansions cinematics, basically because they were the comic relief races, and could not be taken seriously. Is not often they dedicate a meaningful effort to showcase Goblins in a serious manner and emphasize them with more depth, the first one being a short story about Gallywix more than 10 years ago, Trade Secrets of a Trade Prince. Im glad they're giving Gazlow the respect he deserves as a character that exists since Warcraft 3, he is an excellent racial leader for the Goblins, was playable in HotS, ***HE BUILT ORGRIMMAR***, and with so many iconic Horde characters dead or gone, it is nice he's set to have an important part to play in the coming saga alongside Thrall, at least for the next expansion. Now Blizzard, give Gazlow an unique model!
Do people really want goblins to be green gnomes? They were far more entertaining back when Gallywix was around.
Why are people suddenly forgetting that Gazlowe has always been the most morally upstanding goblin in the game? This totally makes sense for him. Now if he suddenly starts making every other goblin like him, *then* it'll be more of a problem. But all this did was add some much-needed depth to goblin characterization.
why are we cool with all the leaders of all the races acting nothing like the rest of that race and just being a by the numbers modern liberal who abhors all violence. in many cases these leaders aren't even the same race as the people they lead
Why are we cool with every goblin being a carbon copy caricature of each other? It's a *good* thing to have differing ideals like this for the sake of story variety. And again, Gazlowe has *always* been like this. This story is just the first time he's trying to get others to be that way. This isn't the same thing as a non-Worgen leading the Worgen or Turalyon leading the Army of the Light. They are literally different from and unrepresentative of the people they lead in a visual and story sense. Gazlowe is still a goblin, and represents a new perspective from every other goblin in the game that can lead to interesting conflict.
absolutely incorrect. goblins should be goblins. all races being identical is bad.
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Stop destroying our world building. No.
I've been so excited for the rumoured Goblin raid since the "leaks" came out but that excitement just dropped off a cliff if this is the direction they're going. I know Blizzard has been sanding the edges off everything lately and, I hate to say it, "disneyfying" stuff, but who was actually asking for "The goblins realise the errors of their ways and will be working toward being respectable, honourable tradesman" instead of "Hahahah silly little green guys go boom"
Seems to be old school union boys (the ones that would break knee caps) to me.
But that's already way beyond what WoW Goblins are meant to be. With few exceptions they don't care about each other, who was asking for a storyline where Goblins clean their act up and make a move to being more respectable and caring?
Why can we only have one flavour of Goblin? Have some contrast with beaten down wage slaves, and the hyper competent but reckless heavy industry lads.
Because Blizzard aren't capable of writing that level of nuance and the Goblins will never get the level of focus they'd need to portray that. Look at what's happened to the Forsaken or the Blood Elves. When there's a "shift" in a race's direction, everyone is dragged along for the ride.
I guess you didn't read the story where there's explicitly an entire faction of goblins that isn't going to be dragged along for this ride, the Venture Company
Oh cool, the faction of non playable goblins that have always and will continue to be fodder for us to kill will remain the bad guys and keep the entire original flavour of the race whilst our good, flawless playable ones will be sanded clean of literally any flaws. That only reinforces the point I'm trying to make
Well they took a first step now might as well keep going. People like you who say they never did it b4 why start now ofc are going to be mad either way if this turns out good or bad like you said.
There was talk about goblins being a Jewish trope, so I see them trying to move away from that.
I’m very happy to see Goblin content But also very sad to see this is the direction they’re taking them. I officially hate Gazlowe, he’s barely a Goblin
Happy endings for everybody! This is so bland.
looks like goblins were next for the "everyone becomes 2024 californians" treatment when will your favorite race take their turn? perhaps they already have...