Soo do we have any lore rich areas for gnomes in any of the books or novels etc? Can anyone point me in the right direction?
I don’t know about books, but in the game there are some lore-rich areas around:
-Gnomeregan for “recent” exclusively gnomish history
-Storm Peaks for the origins, also a little bit of Ulduar
-a few quests around the rest of Northrend for crazy gnomes trying to revert themselves to their original Form
-Mechagon for a gnomish Colony that went crazy and was saved recently and reunited with Gnomeregan.
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Seen all that, done all the areas (AFAIK) and even done both Gnome/Mecha heritage quest chains. Don’t think there’s anything left for me in game. Was kinda hoping for some more in books
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Unfortunately Gnomes suffer from being Ignored for 80-90% of WoW’s lifetime.
Considering how not being ignored by the writers looks like, I find it hard to find that unfortunate. Indeed, I am quite happy that my favourite race is constantly on the sidelines, where the main plot seldom ever reaches, but where game devs can introduce some charming quests without needing approval from too high up.
Characters like Saphronetta, who seems mostly defined by her relationship with a goblin, are what happens when Golden looks at gnomes.
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Considering how Orcs fared in the spotlight, i tend to agree that being ignored seems better.
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Cards on the table here. I certainly wouldn’t be moaning if the entire writing team was completely restructured at this point. I think Golden is a plague and I’m not exactly a fan of Danuser either.
But let’s not moan about them here. Is there anything at all like perhaps a novel that has a few chapters referencing anything Gnomish?
I really enjoyed the Mechagon comic precursor to 8.2. Surprised they haven’t thought of releasing literature detailing things like Thermaplugg’s exploits behind the scenes in Gnomeregan, what happened after Mechagon united etc.
Hell I’m not sure why they aren’t doing that with all the races actually. This is a gigantic expanded universe akin to that of Star Wars and they’re just doing nothing with it really.
Although as Wimbert said yeah probably for the best with current writing team’s (lack of) talent.
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I think it was Beyond the Dark Portal featured the construction of Deeprun Tram… but not even as a sideplot, just a short scene. And Before the Storm actually had a useless sideplot about the above-mentioned gnome-goblin couple. But don’t expect any gnome lore there. The Shattering plays in Ironforge, so there are gnomes… just none of any importance.
So no, there really is nothing much to read up on. I still like the descriptions of gnomes and their culture in the WoW P&P RPG, but that one is officially not a canon source, so that’s that. And Chronicles one features the founding of Gnomeregan, and Chronicles three its fall, but both are one page that doesn’t exactly add much.
So what you see ingame is pretty much all you get.
If I was a figurehead of this franchise, I’d be embarrassed.
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Wouldn’t put my eggs on said basket, as it was mostly an off handed note regarding how Gelbin needed the Alliance to send soldiers down to defend his people that were being harassed by…rats.
And the acknowledgment on Turalyons part that “they surely must be some tangible threat” for someone as large as a gnome.
Not really what I’d call a tangible or even positive, narrative development.
Books tend to not cover Gnomes at all, except when it’s about having either a cute or a comic relief. Much like goblins (only they get the money-loving moron trope).
With the culmination of both themes being that thing they did in Before the Storm with that couple.
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Kinndy was actually one gnome that got spotlight in Tides of War, even though she was ended right there and then. Shows the brilliance of gnomish brains.
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Okay, but as a Dalaran citizen she didn’t exactly teach us anything about gnomish culture. The only really relevant fact from that one that stuck to me is the confirmation that gnomes aren’t adults yet with 25, but are treated more like teenagers.
Lady Jaina treats her subjects as kids. No for real though I don’t think that she was meant to introduce as gnomish cultural representative. Just a novice mage who was pretty smart and doing well in Theramore. It was the closest look we got to the gnomish character. Actually by the end when she is no more it made me sad.
While this thread is still relevant I’m going to ask.
Do we know what the spark reactor is doing to Gelbin? Is that thing powering him/sustaining him? Because if it is, that technically makes him a mechagnome. Which is interesting.
Afaik it’s basically an easteregg around the Ark-generator that keeps ironman alive.
And he’s something of a Hybrid between Gnome and Mechagnome, because mechagnomes were switching bodyparts of their own free will and without the need to do it, just to “improve” themselves.
I wouldn’t call people with a cardiac pacemaker that sustains them cyborgs, but you do you.
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I mean this is why i asked if we know what it’s actually doing, because depending on what it is, I wouldn’t call a replacement heart a pacemaker.
But you do you, man
Well, I wouldn’t call Captain Picard a cyborg either, artificial heart nonewithstanding. shrug
I wouldn’t call him a mechagnome either, different franchises, different things 
I’d pretty much define a mechagnome the same as a cyborg, just based on a gnome body. Wouldn’t you?