Mechagnome Questline (spoilers, of course...)

Lore Story
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So… parts of the Mechagnome questline dialogue have been datamined:

The story of the dialogue seems simple enough: Gnomes and Mechagnomes meet, talk, and the Mechagnomes help with saving Gelbin from his pod, as we kind of expected. During the operation they discuss things and decide to keep the changes to a minimum… but it sounds like Mekkatorque will still get some Modifications that are needed for medical reasons.
The Mechagnomes ask around and are quite impressed by what they hear other gnomes say about Gelbin as a leader. In the end they decide that they want ro reunify the gnomish people - under Mekkatorque, who accepts.

It’s… better than I feared. Far from making unmodified gnomes out to just be inferior Mechagnomes, it actually discusses the value of imperfection and empathy. Indeed, I think it’s Mechagnome fans (if there are some) that might feel more slighted here. It’s their way of live that is put into question, not the one of normal gnomes, and it’s their leadership that bows to others, not the normal gnomish one.

As a fan of normal gnomes I very much appreciate that. But I do have my nitpicks:

  1. Gnomish rulership:

At the behest of Prince Erazmin, it is my privilege to be able to announce the ruler of an undivided gnomekind–Gelbin Mekkatorque, King of the Gnomes!

“King of the Gnomes” was supposed to be a bit of an ironic title, because the feudalists of the Alliance would understand that better than the concept of a leader elected by some voting body for his engineering prowess.

That’s one of the very, very few facts we actually have about gnomish society. I certainly hope this doesn’t change that, and that the “King of the Gnomes” stuff is still just shorthand. But it doesn’t look that way.

So… that’s a disappointment. Though not a final one, yet.

  1. Balancing Tech:

Just a little turn here and he could have sharp strategic mind, and then a little to the left - and he could have incomparable logic. Imagine the possibilities…

Some of that I can account for in my modifications, the rest seem extraneous to the process. We have a singular opportunity to perfect him - body and mind!

Mechagnomes have the tech to modify anyone, in any way they please. Body and mind. That’s really powerful. I’m quite sure that power will never really be relevant, but it raises the tech level once again. This one was expected, of course, but it’s still worrying for the game feeling really cohesive. Certainly not the only worry in that regard, but one more.

  1. Mecha-Mekka

Not a fan of the gnome leader as a cyborg, really. I do hope they don’t overdo it. By all means, give him some 7of9-like facial features and a glowing power core at the chest, or something, but please, please, please leave it at that. The mecha-limbs of the Mechagnomes are horrible.

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I think it’s all been really well executed. Which is a rarity for Blizzard.

I just hope this doesn’t mean Erazmin will be forgotten.

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I don’t think he will. Indeed, I think as a side character he is much freer to be used in quests than a racial leader would be.

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As I thought, gnomes and Mechagnomes end up under the same collective and the same leader.
Wonder how said relation will develop, but I’m unsure about how it’ll affect regular gnome story.
These sort of developments, tend to end up having the plot focusing on the ‘improved’ version of the race instead of the initial one (much like it seems to be happening with both Darkspear and regular Draenei).

It’s too soon to be excessively judgemental, but given gnomes are already struggling to get any spotlight, having an improved version of themselves that doubles on the archetypal “Warcraft gnome traits” could indeed lead to them stealing whatever spotlight gnomes may have.

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But if Gelbin is the leader of both, any leader-spotlight will go to him anyway. So… what spotlight is there left? Who does whacky experiments in some sidequests? Who gets to fill out an Alliance army? Yeah, I don’t see much reason to care about any of that. Especially since spotlight often tends to be harmful in WoW.

If anything, I just expect more gnome content now, because they have gnomes of any kind on their mind.

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It shouldn’t be a surprise that Gelbin is saved. Alliance leaders are all immortal. Almost. So gnome players can rejoice now that their king is safe now :slight_smile:

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By the way, not the same topic, but something I want to highlight nonetheless:

The Mechagon starting zone for Mechagnomes is also full of regular gnomes. It’s quite annoying to think that none but Mechas can probably go there, though.

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The Gnomes of Gnomeregan abandoned their Monarchy, but the Mechagnomes didn’t. So Prince Erazmin might not even understand what the Gnomish democracy is like; he’s essentially proclaiming himself a vassal of his sovereign, “King” Mekkatorque, because that’s what Erazmin thinks is appropriate. Gelbin, I assume, doesn’t want to make a fuss.

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Yeah, but what would that mean for the Mechagnomes’ loyalty if another leader is elected? Are they Mekkatorque’s personal followers, or have they unified with gnomeregan and are willing to follow its customs now? Will the Gnomeregan gnomes just “go with it”, or will they keep their system of government either way?

I’m only harping on this point because gnome lore can really be told in 3 sentences or so. It’s so little that I find even a small inconsistency relevant in proportion.

And I’m quite sure that Blizzard won’t clear anything up in the near future.

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I maintain that Mekkatorque wins every election even though he’s long-since stopped running because his term limits have expired, but the Gnomes refuse to replace him so nobody ever runs for election, and he remains incumbent by default.

It’s the kind of silly but charming thing I think suits the Gnomes.

As for succession, Erazmin might swear fealty to whoever the next “King” is, even if he is elected. Historically it’s quite common for kings to be elected and lesser rulers to swear fealty to each new one.

Will Blizzard care? Probably not, but this is the story forum where we make stuff up to help cope :stuck_out_tongue:

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And that’s your headcanon you use because Blizzard creates only confusion here. I never said there couldn’t be an explanation. I said there isn’t one, and that this kind of looks as if Blizz is intent on treating Mekkatorque as a king.

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Like I said, we’re here to make stuff up to help ourselves cope.

I don’t believe Blizzard will commit much more to Gnome lore for a long time, between Mechagon, Mekkatorque’s adventures during the Horde war campaign (which was awesome) and the Gnome Heritage Armor quest, this is the most attention Gnomes have received possibly ever. Even more than Operation: Gnomeregan.

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Nah, I’m mostly here to judge and complain :wink:

Yes. But I’m a role-player. And that means this new inconsistency they created here is a problem for me here where there was clarity before. If someone tells me now that Mekkatorque is the king of the Mechagnomes, and not just an elected ruler, I can’t show him any sources to convince him that he is wrong. Either we RP in different worlds, which usually makes the RP quite shallow, or we find a compromise, which takes useless discussion time and doesn’t work in every case.

Nothing you can’t work around. But another thing you have to work around. And I think that’s worth the pretty mild complaint (I called it a nitpick myself) I gave it. Don’t you?

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Well it’s only an issue if Blizzard decides to allow the Gnomes to elect another ruler.

For now, we can consider Mekkatorque King of the Mechagnomes, and High Tinker of Gnomeregan. Again, having multiple titles - very common for historical rulers.

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In RP it can be an issue no matter what Blizz does. The characters would know their political system, even if the players don’t. (Of course we have our ways to deal with the gray area. But the point was that they created more gray area here than was there before. That’s not a good thing.)

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I’m just concerned with the implications of the Mechagnomes accepting “King” Mekkatorque when they have their own Prince lined up. That and the fact that they did not separate the titles of High Tinker and King of the Mechagnomes. It was explicitly “King of the Gnomes”.

If they just make the gnomes go back to an actual monarchy I’ll be pretty bummed out, their government is one of my favorite aspects of their lore in a world full of absolute monarchs.

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Don’t worry soon your people shall bow to your king Anduin soon enough.

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Oh, some news. Mekkatorque is in the Mechagnome phase of mechagon now. He doesn’t look mechanized, except for some powercore-thingie at his chest. Good, as far as I’m concerned.
He does lack eyebrows, though, so this model might not be finalized, yet.

He also has the official engine title of “High Tinker, King of Gnomes” now, where up till now “High Tinker” Mekkatorque was his name line and “King of Gnomes” his title line. Not sure how to interpret that.

http://prntscr.com/pkkgty
http://prntscr.com/pkk991

At the moment there is no transporter next to the SW embassy to bring you back to Mechagon, so we don’t really know if only Mechagnomes will be able to go there, or if Mechagon will be open to all gnomes - or even all Alliance characters. It would be braking with AR precedent, though.

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I expect that Mechagnomes will probably be given a special instanced version of their dungeon as racial hub. Much like the Nightborne had with the Nighthold, I guess it will only be accessible to their own race with a teleportation beacon of sorts.

On the rest of the info, not a fan of the “King of gnomes” bit. Always thought that the democratic (or meritocratic) approach gnomes had, was rather iconic and interesting.
Will regret if they throw it out to create a more “standard” leading position based around the monarchical structures that already defines several Alliance races.

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Isen’t he Browless?