Not really a big deal, but I found it a bit jarring when we were on in dire straights after finding outselves in Nazjatar, being toyed with by Azshara etc when suddenly a child underwater goblin comes out with the same lili/vulperra girl voice…and basically the narrative tone shifts hard. Then again in Mechagon, with the prince of the revolting mechagnomes also sounding like a little boy.
Again, not a big deal but it seems to be getting more and more common for NPCs to be kids, and it doesn’t fit the tone of the game well at times. Lili was the first one that jumps to mind, but she’s more or less appropriate for the zone we find her in so w/e. Recently though we had basically the entire Vulpera race voiced as alteratively upbeat, friendly kids to emo “I will kill ALL the snakes!” angry teens. Now we have depressed war area child goblins, and prim and proper machine child gnomeguys.
Feels kinda like some simpson’s marketing team invaded and said “Well the current paradigm is that all our clients are growing up and have children of their own, so we need to be proactive and put more relatable child voices in the game.”
Small things have higher voices in real life as well. They don’t need to go as far with it as they did, but I think they’re just trying to give those races some character and make them feel cute. I honestly didn’t even notice until you posted this.
It’s not just the higher pitch voice though, they act and are worded as children, it’s almost like the old timey comic books with all the sidekicks saying “golly gee willikers that Azshara is a bad person” and whatnot. “Dolly and Dot” is not just pitch.
You do realize that as a race, Gilblins are literally only a single generation (maaaaybe 2) old, right?
Gnomes have also always had a childlike wonder about the world about them in pretty much all fantasy. It is what makes them such great tinkers. I’ve no idea why you feel that doesn’t fit in tone with the game well. They’ve always been eccentric.
Why even bother saying something like this, when it bothers you enough to make a post about it?
I think we’re having two different kinds of Gilgoblin, then, 'cause I haven’t noticed anything like that. A lot of the talk Neri Sharpfin has is really down to earth, and how she’s wanting to find a way for all of them to be free of the Naga.
“Hiya!” is generally a friendly greeting, for people of any age.
The water elementals sent by Neptulon are infinitely more childish than the Gilgoblins, complete with water puns.
No? Where is there any real lore on the Gilblins? And that’s some gnomes. Surely you’re not forgetting all the toxic lepergnomes, and other various varients? Saying that all gnomes are childlike and cutesy is an insult to the (mighty?) race.
Why even bother saying something like this, when it bothers you enough to make a post about it?
This forum is about game discussion? Should I just speak in rants or sychophantic praise?
Neri is awesome, I’m definitely enjoying her as a character. She sounds like someone thrust into a leadership position rather than signing up for it, and all she wants is to see her people safe and free. She has a lot of care for her friends and people, and she clearly wants to beat Azshara. I’m hoping to actually see her more because I genuinely want her and her people free.
Saying Gnomes have a childlike wonder is not the same as saying they are in fact childlike. It’s you that fail to separate these things. Gnomes as a general rule ARE eccentric though, and I think you are confusing that with child like. I’d encourage you to not do so.
Even as a Gilblin fan, I “can” understand it. I mean, while Gilblins are rather down to earth as you say, being such a new race, they don’t have the same experience to draw on as the other races and that naivete could come across as childlike. I think the OP is overblowing it by a huge amount here, but I do sorta “get” what they are trying to say, even if they don’t get the why’s of it.
I think they’re a one-off experiment from Hobart Grapplehammer. Yes, the same from the starting zone. “That negligence case with the gilgoblins will never stick” or something to that tune. The few we met in Cata and Legion (the only times I seen them prior to BfA but there might have been more?) were poop-throwing water barbarians and now they’re scrappy, wooby slaves that need saving. They need to be protected so they can grow up strong and healthy.
Suddenly being sympathetic and uncharacteristically sane (for a Goblin) rather than literal poop-throwing water barbarians.
They are an ongoing project for him. At one point, he mentioned in a past expansion that he was working on a way to boost their intelligence from the original attempt. It appears he succeeded. While they don’t have the same IQ as Gnomes or Goblins, I’d say their working IQ is at least on par with the other races. They just need more experience. The Horde could give them that, which is why I wanna see them as an AR.