Two things:
- Alliance players have been asking for playable Mechagnomes since Wrath. You might quibble with the implementation, but to say people weren’t asking for them is absurd.
- Mechagnomes have, overall, the strongest racials in the game. High offense, high defense, and high utility. While another race may, in some cases, excel at one of the three, nobody comes close to being so strong in all 3 areas at once. Alliance players keep saying they need “better racials” to be more attractive compared to horde, but then when they get the best set of a racials in the game, they just say “no I’m not gonna play that”.
I can’t even imagine how frustrated the dev team is over this issue. They gave Alliance players what they were asking for, in both departments, and the reaction was scorn.
7 Likes
I prefer to call them Junker Gnomes.
There’s already Mechagnomes in Northrend that are fully robotic.
6 Likes
Because, just perhaps, the vast majority of players choose their race based on aesthetics rather than racials. Yes, of course, a number of hyper-elite players went Horde specifically for their racials, and this - in turn - energized a kind of piggybacked exodus to the opposing team. But that’s not the thinking that governs the majority of racial choices in this game, which almost certainly boil down to: a) is the race on the same faction as the majority of my friends play, b) do I like the look of the race, and c) can it be the class I want to play?
That’s it. There’s no mystery to it. And the reason mechagnomes are so unpopular is thus easy to deduce: because (most) people on the Alliance don’t like them, or - in the least - don’t want to play as one, racials be damned.
4 Likes
That’s fine. Just be sure and explain that to the next “Horde bias / Alliance needs better racials because of the World First Race / etc.” threads.
6 Likes
It’s called confirmation bias. They only look at data/experiences/etc that prove their theory.
I see Mechagnomes all over the place when I’m playing. Now, I could claim that means they are an extremely popular race or it could mean I pay more attention to smaller races.
10 Likes
I didn’t even really intend this to be a horde bias thread. The only reason I mentioned Vulpera at all was because they were the corresponding release with Mechagnomes… and because you see them constantly (if you play the Horde). I don’t care that the Horde got to play as them - should all the desirable races be Alliance? That’s silly. And, certainly, the Vulpera weren’t going to be Alliance after what happened in BFA.
All I was saying is, Mechagnomes were a bad choice. Even something obscure like Tuskarr or… Furlbogs would have been better. And they could have REALLY done something awesome like Dryads (how do you overcome the mount issue? I have no idea - make something up). Just because what we got sucks doesn’t mean I want to take something away from the Horde - I just want more thought to go into a race added to the game than “HERE’S THE GOBLIN SKIN SWAP YOU’VE ALL BEEN ASKING FOR!.. oh, and here’s the gnome derivative. Enjoy.”
5 Likes
I wanted mechagnomes. The fact they called these new gnomes mechangnomes irked me, since we wanted the robot ones. They renamed junker gnomes into mechagnomes. Which is basically amputated gnomes with how they look ingame. Imo that was a bad move. But the junker gnome look grew on me. And I do hope they add the full metal mecha gnomes like we wanted… someday as customization.
1 Like
What I meant by ‘horde bias’ was that every world first race, and every hall of fame period, this forum is inundated with threads from Alliance players complaining that Alliance needs better racials. First off this is ridiculous, since Alliance, overall, has the best racials in the game. But secondly, in the allied races department, Mechagnomes have by far the strongest racials package in the game, whereas Vulpera racials are laughably bad. But when Blizzard gave people what they asked for (stronger racials), people aren’t playing them.
4 Likes
I never see void elves anymore, they all have light skin. A void elf has purple skin.
3 Likes
As I said, feel free to quibble over the implementation.
Also, the heritage armor gives the full robot look. That’s what it’s for.
The problem is if you wear it, then there’s “no transmog”. Which is the problem with the fully robotic Mechagnomes in the first place, and probably why they aren’t the default but are instead the heritage armor option.
2 Likes
That would be like asking for vulpera for 10 years and them giving you dogs with rabies as an allied race. That wasn’t cool.
7 Likes
People asked for Mag’har since BC before getting them. Allied races are a new thing. /shrug
How many Mag’har do you see every day? 
2 Likes
At least one. My monk! My bank alt lol. They should have been customization too. I wanted a blackrock warlock : / that isn’t an option.
1 Like
I saw a mechagnome once, but it shorted out when I tried to mix my margaritas in it.
5 Likes
This seems like a pretty senseless question to ask. Mearles contrasted the popularity of the Vulpera with the general lack thereof Mechagnomes have. There were megathreads on this very forum speculating about the Vulpera becoming an allied race; no such thing for Mechagnomes. You seem like the sort of person who tries to argue an indisputable fact accepted by near universal player experience just because you feel like being contrary.
8 Likes
The fact that I have to keep my mechagnome in a dress so he doesn’t look like he’s wearing a diaper is why I don’t play him very much. 
Why can’t the limbs be transmogged over? Why don’t we have the option to pick the percentage of robotics? We look like the meme “When you order ________ from Wish.”
5 Likes
mechagnomes are cool. great heritage armor and racials. the only allied race i dont like is void elves which are just a copy paste of the most popular race in the game. i would have liked something new equal to vulpera
3 Likes
From someone who leveled a few mechagnomes use a tabard! They help. Scifi themes tech themes fit good with them. Some of the engineering mogs are pretty good for them.
2 Likes
It’s kinda sad that they view amputees as a separate race.
5 Likes