The Exploring Kalimdor book seems to have been pulled, because of heavy backlash. I bet mistakes like confusing the well of eternity with the dark portal, or saying the War of the Ancients happened 1.000 years ago, among even more didn’t help either. Such incompetence.
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Hope they really will update this book to represent actual Lore.
Cool. Maybe next time they’ll remember what Gazlowe as a character is supposed to be too.
More like a Gnome, I suppose?
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Halfway between a Gnome and Gallywix. So, more like a Goblin, I’d say.
Nah, gnomes are nerds, Gazlowe is just supposed to be the magical ethical super CEO, who makes the most most money while helping his friends, keeping the workers happy, and probably finding the potential in green goblin tech with less pollution. So… he is supposed to be a member of the super best friend club that isn’t really allowed to have any flaws from a modern moral pov. So… he essentially is not supposed to have any character, really.
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The sole gnom… Errr Goblin that literally overpays his workers, so they stay loyal.
What a genius. Its clear thats how you become rich. Can’t belief the Cartel leaders thought of that yet! 
From what I have heard of this work, it seems to be a travesty, not only demonstrating a complete inability to grasp their own world but falling back on tired cliches and unsophisticated stereotypes that not only fail to reflect the Horde as it is in the minds of players but actually fails to mirror what the Horde is in the actual game they themselves have written.
The sheer inconsistency in the writing seems to belie the underlying contempt Blizzard has for it’s own story; narrative and worldbuilding are not things to be treated with respect, they are conveniences designed to ferry us from one grind to the next.
Other MMOs have proven that when lore and narrative are respected, when they are allowed to function as a pillar of the game on their own merits, they draw people in, forge a connection between player and game and help build a community united in their love of a good story well told.
Blizzard needs to either decide to tell a grand story right, or abandon the pretension that they are weaving some kind of epic narrative and revert to simpler narrative frameworks to facilitate the kind of world they do want us to engage with.
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While I agree with this, I feel that it doesn’t hit the mark. This book isn’t really part of the grand story. That’s where Anduin, Jaina, Thrall and Sylvanas put up their little drama, and what could reasonably be cut from the game without affecting other aspects. But this book supposed to be pure world-building. And you can’t ruin that without ruining the attachment to the world… of Warcraft. You certainly have no way to give up on it.
I dunno, there’s certainly a way of making it work.
Goblins are meant to be ultra-capitalists, but while capitalism almost always tends towards “People with all the money/business owners exploit their workers because they have the power to do so”, in theory the ability for workers to choose who they work for/work harder with better conditions means that capitalism can result in better conditions for workers (Provided they, you know, have a choice. And aren’t being bombarded by corporate media).
So I guess the thing to do would be to push a goblin power struggle, but as opposed to casting Gazlowe as being this rare altruistic goblin, just make it more of a business thing. Like sure, he’s a good guy, but that’s more in the fact that he even considered a route that supported his workers.
But when there’s a chance that screwing someone over wouldn’t hurt him in the long run? Well… He might just do that. Or if he thinks that he’s being screwed in a deal, make him remind his business partner that he’s still a goblin at the end of the day. And sure, he may be doing “the right thing”… But is it really the best thing for everyone, or could he really do something else that would help more people (but hurts him big time), the same way most corporations do.
Would it require Blizzard to write more story that isn’t “Oh no, big bad, stop them!”? Sure. But there’s certainly ways to do it, the key one being that no matter how nice they can seem, at the end of the day corporations are not your friend
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Maybe. But that’s not the way the critics are talking about in the case of this book, is it? They don’t want Gazlowe to be someone who is a master at manipulating his labourers, they complain because the book makes him seem like less of a nice guy.
Oh right, yeah, the bad book that fails on basically every single level
Possibly. But that doesn’t make every critic of it right in every critique of it, either.
No, they complain because it makes him seem like a total stranger to the character writers themselves created. Liking Gazlowe or not is beside the point, and I don’t find him very interesting either, though if there’s place for a character like Gallywix who is intended to embody the worst aspects of Goblin culture, then obviously there’s also place for a character that represents the other end of the spectrum. Now it’s up to writers to make it work.
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So what? Isn’t that the same thing in this case? Maievs made the suggestion that Gazlowe could be built up as a greedy egotist who just happens to think that playing nice pays real money. And I replied that that’s not the direction the criticisms came from. People didn’t complain that being so overt goes against his business strategy, they complained that he is too nice of a guy to act like he did.
Alright, but then why do you think this is an unjustified remark ? In the game nothing indicates that Gazlowe is “someone who is a master at manipulating his labourers”, but rather something like, the most decent person a Goblin can be expected to be, indeed. A still techno-crazed, still business-driven Goblin who however does value life and loyalty and stuff, and who also thinks valuing the latter actually helps with the former. But as Moridunum pointed out, his decisions are often very poor in terms of business. Considering that, and keeping in mind his depiction in BFA, him saying things like :
If you’re still reading, then let me use small words for you. I own you, your Steamwheedle boss, your Bilgewater cronies, and your shoes. And I go where I want on my property.
It just feels off. Just feels like Gallywix, the character he’s supposed to be in total contrast with.
I don’t. I just find the direction they chose for his character totally boring, and another symptom of a direction Blizzard has been going for a while, which I find quite destructive to the necessary tensions within the narrative, and racial uniqueness. I agree with the book criticism from the standpoint of consistency, and I guess that might have been overshadowed by me not caring for this character, no matter if he is consistent or not. My last remark to Maievs probably missed the point a bit.
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Didn’t read the whole things, but by single above mention fact, we can safely agree that wowhead staff has been paid by their wive boyfriend (in soy milk) to post this.
Alliance biased book written by an alliance biased author. Not surprised. Golden does everything to crap on the Horde any chance she gets. I hope she gets fired.
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