So, High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque was in that raid.
… and what happened now.
Is he dead?!?
He is frozen inside his rescue capsule and no one can unfreeze him. Why is he frozen in a way no one can undo? No idea, plot reasons. So he is in lore limbo now, waiting for a plot device to free him, and possibly change his role in the story, like Magni was before.
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He survived.
Will most likely be rebuilt in Mechagon at some point.
Hint: Mechagnome allied race scenario in patch 8.3.5
That would be like lightforging Velen, while introducing the Lightforged race. A level of stupidity not impossible for Blizzard, but in no way is it that likely.
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okay, phew.
I’m just glad he’s not dead.
But it’s the most logical step to take. He survived that raid encounter for a reason and he’s nowhere to be seen in 8.2. What else could it possibly be?
No one in the Alliance, not even his fellow gnomes seem to know how to break him out from that cryostasis. The gnomes of Mechagon are specialized in the kind of tech that might be necessary to save his life.
Then we have the comments from Kelsey Steelspark and Gallywix in the war campaign where both contemplate their own/their nemesis’ desire to be part machine.
It’s hardly confirmation but still some pretty strong hints that point in that direction.
Is he in-game atm?
Like frozen somewhere w/ gnomes working on him… or is he just a byline?
To set up a new gnome leader and return Gelbin in a more active position, to make leadeship errors happen in his absense that they don’t want to pin on him, to create a fun election event that wouldn’t happen otherwise, to make some supernatural power make Gelbin his emissary, like they did with Magni, to demonstrate his genius by making him invent something that solves problems that seemed unsolvable while he wasn’t around…
There can be loads of reasons.
What makes no sense is making the gnome leader a mechagnome and leave the gnomes as second class mechas, while the mechagnomes already had a perfectly acceptable leader with Prince Whatshisname.
Tha only sets up the Mechagon plot, where everyone is confronted with that possibility. It doesn’t mean anyone is about to take the offer.
Just a byline, right now.
His escape pod can be seen on the boat in Boralus (instanced version in the raid) after you’ve killed King Rastakhan. Some of his gnomes are hammering away on it to no avail.
I dunno I think you’re ignoring the big flashing sign that points to Mechagon out of disgust for the plot.
Having some limbs or organs replaced by bionics hardly invalidates Gelbin’s position as leader or his race in the story. Would future humans on earth be lesser in the eyes of their peers if they choose to refrain from certain body augmentations? Because that’s the reality we’re about to find ourselves in. And in Gelbin’s case it’s a matter of life and death.
Consider such a scenario as a vehicle to bring the Mechagnomes into the Alliance and nothing more. Future stories would build upon their differences, their similarities, their shared values and the things both could learn from one another.
Much in the same way the Nightborne and Blood Elves interact these days.
And I think you are overinterpreting what you are seeing generally, and thus your arguments are invalid. I guess we can play the ad hominem game, it just won’t lead anywhere. Well, it can be fun, though, if we actually try to outdo one another.
It does, if they are bringing in Mechagnomes as an Allied Race. And I take that as a given, considering the work they put into their animations. An enhanced gnome won’t be a representative of the gnome player race, he will be a mechagnome, just like a Lightforged Draenei wouldn’t be a representative of the Draenei player race.
He’d be Gelbin of Gnomeregan just as he’s always been and always will be. Of course he’s representative of his people. He has his own history and lore and no body augmentation in the world will change that. Especially not so when it would be a life saving procedure performed without his consent.
Is Kelsey Steelspark less of a gnome for expressing a desire to be part machine? or is it only when or if she takes that final step that she becomes less representative of her people?
Just like Sylvanas is just Sylvanas of Silvermoon? No.
Certainly not. But she isn’t part machine in a way that is comparable to mechagnomes, and if she were, she would be more of a representative of mechagnomes and less of the normal gnome race.
Body augmentation isn’t nearly as extensive a process as the complete befoulment of body and soul by way of necromancy. Nor does it warp your mind and twist your personality into something so sinister as Sylvanas. Not to mention Silvermoon itself has changed greatly since the time of her death.
So you would say that Kelsey is a true gnome so long as she choose to not implement any exterior modifications to her body? what about interior modifications? a mechanical heart or liver maybe? is there a limit to how far she can take this before she loses her right to call herself a gnome?
What if these sentiments are widespread among the playable ones? Are they fake gnomes in waiting?
I’m not talking about character psychology here. I am talking about player race representation. Lightforging Velen and having him lead the Draenei would further the impression that the original player race is just a second rate Lightforged. He might be the same person, but he would not represent the same player race. Any Blood Elf could in theory become a Void Elf, but if you do that to a character you won’t see him as a representative of Blood Elves anymore. Even if he stays psychologically stable. Calia seems to be quite stable as an undead. Probably not even rotted away. But she is now something different from a human and doesn’t represent the human player race. And while augmenting Mekkatorque without giving us the Mechagnome player race wouldn’t change too much, augmenting him and giving us the player race would reassign him to the new player race.
It’s much more important to me in an RPG what the choice of leader character says about what I am playing, than what it says about his character. Indeed, I don’t really care about his character at all an would like it to take a backseat to my adventures in the game.
And a new player race creates a new identity that isn’t the same as that of related races.
Honestly, I would’ve liked this too, but Velen does not need Lightforging, since he is already a immortal draenei, unlike the other normal draenei.
But that aside, I still think the Lightforged racial leader should’ve been Prophet Velen the Seer.
It is not, though. The most logical step for the mechagnomes, when they join the Alliance, is to unfreeze Mekkatorque and show their worth to the Alliance that way, not change him into a mechagnome, Prince Mechagon opposes that since he wants mechanisation to be a choice, not a must.
Prince Erazmis Mechagon iirc.
Fair points. But the cat’s already out of the bag on this I’m afraid. The technology exists, is used extensively and to great effect and we already have playable gnomes that have expressed a desire to junker up. And taking into account their innate propensity and interest for technology I would find it more strange if there weren’t some select individuals among our playable ones that wouldn’t jump at the chance to do just that.
And even if they did it would hardly change anything. Gelbin and Kelsey cant represent the Mechagon gnomes because of the simple fact that they’re not one of them. They don’t share their history, their values, struggles, culture etc. Same goes for Calia in her relation to the Forsaken. They’d still think of themselves as Gnomes of Gnomeregan, fight for its people and for the Alliance. Contrast this with the Void Elves who adopted their own unique identity after their transformation and now find themselves on opposing sides of their former kin. Gelbin and Kelsey would remain as they were in their hearts, their minds and in their characterizations prior to any theoretical body augmentations…just a bit more clanky. Just a little.
Ultimately though I doubt it will ever happen for the reasons you stated. It’s certainly important to keep some level of distinction between an ever increasing roster of races, especially so when the allied races are so similar in appearance to their parent races. But I DO think it would be an interesting avenue for Blizzard to explore because the consequences and opportunities of bionics is a topic that is very much relevant to us modern humans too.
The philosopichal implications are delicious.
I actually agree with this but I was operating under the belief that Gelbin was beaten to within an inch of his life and that mechanization, at least partly, was the only way to bring him out of his cryostasis alive.
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A Shame the cocky bastard didn’t die on that raid.
But that’s not a problem of race representation, if they aren’t among the few gnomish characters of any relevance. Population numbers never really mattered in WoW.
And I’ll point out that stating that it would be cool to be more like a machine is quite some way from starting to chop off your limbs to become one.
Well, they certainly wouldn’t represent the usual gnomes anymore. And
Like I said, I don’t care about their personal psychology here.
I certainly hope it won’t happen… I really can’t stand the voluntary amputees as a player race, with a gnomish monarchy which we appearently had some few hundred years ago to top it off… Augmentation could have been cool. Give me some of this mecha-headgear any time, for example. Replacement on the other hand just creeps me out. I’ve seen enough Doctor Who to know where this is going… waves to the Cybermen
And really, they don’t need to bring my gnomes into it to discuss the boundaries of reasonable self-improvement. That’s what they have 2 groups of Mechagnomes for, one who thinks there should be some stopping point, and one that doesn’t. I don’t see how the topic becomes philosopically more interesting if you throw a third group in. The normal gnomes that augment themselves would make exactly the same decision the mechagnomes already made.
If they refuse to change themselves, and embrace their fleshy natures, on the other hand, that would actually be a different philosophical postion from both groups of Mechagnomes.
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