World of Warcraft Update 11.1: Undermine(d) is finally here, and it’s certainly got the community buzzing. I kind of suspected this would be the case, but now it’s confirmed: This is one of the most polarizing patches ever put into the game. Players seem to either really, really love it or really, really hate it.
And what it comes down to is whether or not you like the Goblin aesthetic. This race above all others embraces the chaotic silly side of the Warcraft universe, and while some people are amused by that, others find it grating and immersion-breaking.
I suppose it all comes down to your flavor preference. Back in my youth pastor days, I used to have a giant bowl of Dum-Dums that teens could plunder. And it always fascinated me which flavors they preferred. Everyone seemed to have one special lollipop that they’d go out of their way to find and at least one variety that they wrinkled their nose at and wouldn’t even touch. And the thing was, there was no consensus on any of this. Preferences were all over the place.
That’s how I see community interaction with this game. Due to how large and expansive as World of Warcraft is (along with other MMORPGs), there are so many dang flavors in this fantasy world. It’s not just the type of content (casual leveling vs. raiding vs. PvP, for example) but the style of content. And what may be your crowning jewel may be my garbage heap.
Some people really appreciate serious classical fantasy settings. Give them castles and dungeons and magical Elf villages, and they’re happy. Some have preferences for druidic landscapes, or heavy metal hellscapes, or steampunk tech, or archaeological digs, or pretty much anything that skews toward the tone of a certain race. Probably most of us like a variety of flavors, which is why MMORPGs appeal so greatly. We get a huge buffet of environments and stories and characters, and that’s great.
But there is something very divisive about the flavor of Blizzard’s Goblins. I’ve heard them described as “Jersey kids,” a kind of mixture of street toughs and gangster aspirations. But they’re a bit more than that, with their love of often dirty technological innovation, a fondness for anything explosive, and a dash of Las Vegas glamor.
They’re funny, chaotic, and loud, a group of uncouth geniuses barging into places and probably making them toxic within a few weeks. Along with the Gnomes, Goblins boast the highest level of tech in Azeroth, and much of that is channeled into creating a ramshackle version of contemporary society.
Again, you might look at a Goblin playing golf — their favorite sport — with exploding bombs and roll your eyes at such childishness. Or it might tickle your fancy and make you cackle when yet another thing blows up. All about the flavors, chum.
The one thing that everyone can agree on is that Goblin culture and humor is in your face. They absolutely don’t know the meaning of the phrase “tone it down,” so that can be abrasive to some. That doesn’t mean that the Goblins lack depth or complexity, understand; it means the way they go about their interactions and goals is vastly different than, say, Draenei or Blood Elves.
As I write this, I’m still in my early days of exploring Undermine, but I can tell you that I’m definitely on the “love” side of the divide. It’s seriously impressive to see the Goblins’ most famous underground city realized on such a scope. Zipping around on a smoke-belching roadster to hit the next mission for these zany people is some of the most fun I’ve had in retail in a long time. And I really appreciate a vastly different and creative underground zone than might be in any MMORPG we’ve ever seen.
I’ll acknowledge that a lot of my immediate attraction to this patch is that the Goblin culture clicks with me. I get it, I like it, and it amuses far more than grates. But as they say, your mileage may vary. It may vary a lot.
War never changes, but World of Warcraft does, with almost two decades of history and a huge footprint in the MMORPG industry. Join Eliot Lefebvre and Justin Olivetti for new installments of WoW Factor as they examine the enormous MMO, how it interacts with the larger world of online gaming, and what’s new in the worlds of Azeroth and Draenor.
