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I started a petition for gnome paladins after seeing a post here and there on the official forums. I love both the gnomes and the paladin class and was hoping they too could be empowered with holy wrath, but Blizzcon came and went with no such luck. We know Blizzard listens to the fans. Cataclysm is also far enough out that a grass roots movement just might inspire Blizzard to give the shorties just a little more love. Don’t be afraid to sign the petition and spread the rawr.

Anyone who has listened to TotalBiscuit knows how he feels about video game lore. Like him, I have to agree, “IT’S JUST A GAME!” I like the story involved in WoW, but it’s not Tolkien or Jordan. In fact, I read one interview ages ago with Robert Jordan and remember him saying he had notes piled up on his desk when writing. He had to have mountains of notations to keep track of the world he created because he knew his fans were reading every word and looking for clues to the story. A violation of lore in Jordan’s world could cause countless debate and confused fans as the story is woven together one epic novel after the other.

Now, if the WoW geeks could be remotely honest with themselves, I am sure no one, not even me, can imagine Metzen sitting at his desk with books of Azeroth notes piled up around as if he were the nutty professor. Metzen is infected with a plague created by the big boys at Blizzard. He is entrusted with protecting a story and with creating an engaging game. You can’t always have both. How many of you cried foul after killing Bowser for the 1,000th time? How many of you turned off your Nintendo in utter disgust because Princess Toadstool was dumb enough to be captured yet again?

I love the new race/class combinations. In fact, I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it, about Tauren paladins; I have started leveling a new dorf pally to convert to a Tauren when the opportunity arises. The only thing that really disappoints me is the absolute disrespect for the gnomes. Of the four classes unable to be played by gnomes in Cataclysm, three make perfect sense, but the fourth tells me Metzen is no Tolkien.

The gnomes will not be able to play hunters, and that’s just fine with me. See, in real life, I’m somewhat of a gnome when it comes to distractions. If you leave a Rubik’s cube laying around; I’m likely to pick it up and try to solve it. I have two cats and a bird, but they aren’t my responsibility. The better half takes care of the animals because I am just too scattered brained. Entrusting a gnome with the caretaking of a rabid grizzly while in Ironforge seems just a little too risky.

Seeing the analytical gnomes controlling the natural forces of Azeroth seems about as well alien as seeing a gnome in a Jay-Z video. Though qualified casters, and probably cutsie wutsie wittle bears, imagining gnomes harness the power of Cenarius or those of the elements seems a little farfetched as well. Think about an angry gnome in a forest of totems throwing a tantrum when the elements refuse to hear his call. Gnomes may be capable fire casters, but things are a little different when the fire talks back.

Blizzard decided against allowing gnomes to be paladins, but, curiously, they had no issues allowing them to become priest. I have seen the countless arguments about undead priests, and how they really can’t be paladins because unlike the dwarves and humans, their priests draw their power from the forgotten shadow. Those undead priest no longer use the light in the way a human does. Forsaken priests, like all the priest races, learn to harness their power based on their own belief system. The only ones whose religion is truly light based are the humans and dwarves.

With the curse of flesh quest line in Borean Tundra and the impending world breaking headed our way, it is logical some of the gnomes might question what they believe and how they fit into a greater order. After spending the last several years as refugees in Ironforge, is it that unlikely some of them will seek council from the dwarves?

The priestly path of the gnomes is paved with the wisdom of the dwarves and that of the Holy Light. In fact, the inner perfection the light teaches presents itself as an obtainable expectation to a race as logical as the gnomes. Some may even come to believe their single minded pursuit of knowledge cost them Gnomeregan.

Blizzard will allow the Tauren to become priests and paladins through some great epiphany linking the sun with the light, but the little guys with expansive minds will learn only to become priests? Wouldn’t the gnomes’ inquisitive nature lend itself both priests and paladins? A forlorn warrior returning to the ravaged Eastern Kingdoms from Northrend isn’t able to seek redemption through the light in the same way his casting brothers might?

Blizzard had a real opportunity to create a great story for gnome paladins, but they dropped the ball, a gnome sized ball, and chose to explore retbulls instead.

-Rhab