Unpopular opinion. LotR dwarves (mainly Gimli, the Hobbit ones are weird) look better than Warcraft’s interpretation, in terms of proportions and overall shape.
When it comes to overall visual design and theme I prefer Warhammer’s dwarfs - they have some odd elements to their culture but the armour, the war machines etc are just https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/660/524/large/markus-lenz-creativeassembly-tww-dwarfs-markus-lenz.jpg?1464217994
Almost every race/class combination (with the exception of Hunter, Dwarf Shaman as it’s obvious we’re never getting ‘proper’ Wildhammers as a unique race, and I guess Death Knight) that was introduced during/after Cataclysm has been a mistake and detrimental to the race or class fantasy that it’s trying to portray.
I still like being here, but AD is far from what it was.
We have always had drama - I remember well the days of Hrothgarr, and there are some who remember things much older still - but in recent years it has become so much more fierce. The drama is violent, even acidic, not the mildly entertaining events of the past. There’s actual, outright hatred flying around nowadays, and I’ve decided to steer clear of it altogether.
But fortunately AD still offers just about any concept or community you want, if you know where to look. And if you cannot find your concept, you can probably make it and it’ll work with enough effort. And as long as it does, I will keep on keepin’ on.
It’s up to us to make it a good place. A roleplay haven for roleplayers, and despite all the drama, Goldshire, griefers, OOC lollers and so forth - I still have never regretted from realm changing to AD and begin roleplaying. I’ve met some great people and many new friends. Truly great people. Despite all the toxicity at times I’m still grateful for people that host events and do stuff for the RP community.
I think the reason why drama is so toxic nowadays (and not only on AD) is partly because of the internet culture, and the end, I chose who I play and RP with. If I see people I just outright do not like they will get a one-way ticket to my ignore list and they’ll stay there until the collapse of the universe.
Anyhow, back to topic… I dunno if it’s an unpopular opinion or not - but I detest flaming/glowing hair for Dark Irons and I think it’s one of the most dumbest things ever.
Changing your TRP to “Shu’halo” or “Afflicted Gilnean” is pretentious and counterintuitive. I can cope with Kaldorei and Sin’dorei since at least it’s used in-game frequently enough to imply it’s a common term, unlike Shu’halo which appears barely a few times in-game and is almost never used by Blizzard (not to say it isn’t a canon term, but it’s certainly no decent replacement for simply Tauren).
Gnomes are detrimental to the setting because of the plot holes their technology brings. Goblin technology is crude and unpredictable, whereas gnomish engineering extends from laser beams to machine guns. How, logically, can the other races stick to their medieval ways when these far superior weapons exist (widespread) in the setting? Why would dwarves use muskets when their close neighbours can offer them automatic rifles?
It’s not thatI disagree with gnomes as a race; in Warcraft 3 and vanilla, their craft was mostly grounded within the setting; flying machines, unreliable shrinking devices, rocket boots. Nowadays gnomish technology is far too advanced to comprehend how they haven’t taken over the world through conquest yet. Cataclysm was the turning point for me, and Mechagon as a raid is the antithesis of this problem. Gnomes need grounding within the setting, or the rest of the setting needs to develop with the gnomes.
My problem is the opposite. It’s meant to be crude and unpredictable, but it usually only fails when the plot demands it do so for the sake of further errands or comedic effect.
Goblins being able to cobble together literally anything (there’s a quest in Felwood where you basically vacuum a bunch of wisps up) is something that makes me wish WoW was either a setting of weird steampunk-ish tech or a setting of magic, and not this strange kitchen sink approach.
Goblins post-Cataclysm have had their tech be exactly slapdash enough to fail whenever it needs to, but also be advanced enough that it succeeds whenever it needs to (which is almost all the time).
There’s a running theme in my posts that Cataclysm torpedo’d parts of the setting
Goblins have pocket nukes. Blizzard’s theme park mindset of making things up as they go and not thinking about it again if it’s inconvenient destabilises the setting.
I don’t think it’s unpopular. Whenever I mention that WoW is one of the strangest cases of Anachronism Stew I’ve seen in a game, people tend to be in agreement.
I imagined it to be unpopular because of the backlash against “grimdark” roleplay that tended to neglect the technological aspects of the setting.
Whilst I’m very far from a grimdark role player, I sometimes do find myself taken out of a scene when a gnomish character employs one of their endless gadgets, or has a weapon that far exceeds the power level of any other character present. I suppose my unpopular opinion is that I sadly struggle to roleplay with gnomes because of this opinion.
I prefer them living in the ruins of their former home, though I don’t think there was any alternative to changing it. If it had remained until now, people would be asking why they’re still living in derelict huts. It was a total “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation in my eyes.
I know they had to update it but honestly I just think they went a tad too far with the new aesthetic and made it too cartoon villainy. I’d have preferred they updated/repaired the buildings while keeping a more gloomy atmosphere.
I am happy about the Shadowlands Forsaken customisation stuff though. The joints always being exposed and being hunched over have always been the main two things taking me out of wanting to play that race.
