Dwarves - serious? or comic relief?

[Mancowski]

Just looking at any lore out there, will let you know the race is too bad ass.

I see bonds between the dwarves that put any others to shame.

They will not sit back while a friend is in need.

They are the most bad ass fury warrior out of the races.

King Magni forged the Ashbringer out of anger, for Arthas' betrayal or Muradin and the Alliance forces.
This sword helped defeat the Lich King.
Magni, not knowing what would happen to him gave of himself to a curse to protect his people.
Bronzebeard clan is a great faction. it has its ups and downs, But its ups make me feel great about knowing what i do about them.

Sad thing about todays player is that they donot play for the lore, the play for the action and loot. The dwarf will have their time in the sun again.

For Khaz Modan!

[Justignoreme]

Dwarves aren't useless drunkards in WoW universe, I don't know why people think they are. Dwarves entirely remind me of a mix of hard fighting Vikings with mean streaks as well as the classic explorer and scientist from the 19th century, uncovering the mysteries of the world they live in and their Titan origins. They are the industrial center of the Alliance as well, give the stout fellows a bit more credit than you're doing, especially if you like them. Really, all the negative aspects you bring up are applicable to all Alliance races, not just dwarves, but they have good potential, like all Alliance races. Just need some writers who give a damn about bringing the positive to the forefront, and those writers only care about Horde.

[Daverid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgk-lA12FBk

There is the beer guzzling, name tossing silly side to dwarves, but they can get super serious and very badass when the situation calls them to be.

To say they are purely 'comical' or totally 'serious' would be absurd. Very similar to Pandaren in that respect.

[Chat]

Complains about Dwarves.. and the Gnomes still cant even reclaim their city.

But in all seriousness.. If you read the books they were pretty cool.. ingame however ya.. they are pretty drunk and stuff.. lol.

[Haven]

Warhammer Dwarves remind me of R. Lee Ermey tbh. A short, angrier version of R. Lee Ermey.

*after googling about who R. Lee Ermey is* haha, good one But nothing will ever be as badass as commissars of Imperial Guard from W40k.

[Elegiac]

The problem with Dwarves in WoW is a systemic problem of WoW itself; the lore isn't very serious in comparison to other fantasy universes, say like Middle-Earth or the Warhammer world.

Dwarves have the potential to be a very serious race. Gnomes, on the other hand, are more difficult.

[Vargur]

As a die-hard Dwarf fan (all of my Alliance characters) I take pride in being the battle-hardened, tough and stoic race I am. We charge in to battle with an axe and a mug screaming and laughing half-drunk. I liken Dwarves to Vikings or Vrykul, we drink our mead and sing songs of battle before marching on to victory. It seems with such lore characters as Brann, Sully "The Pickle" and Fargo Flintlocke, Blizzard plays them out as being the comic relief older brother of Gnomes. We're the fat, short drunks of the Alliance who bumble about and belch and have ugly women. They've historically been the least-played race on the Alliance, ever since vanilla, and now are the least played overall (Trolls are now more popular than ever).

In Cataclysm, Dwarves were given a serious role in the war against the Twilight's Hammer and what comes of it? The Alliance is introduced to brawny Wildhammer Dwarves who try to arrange a hilarious wedding while the Dragonmaw wrestle Ogres and kill dragons. Moira herself is a play of Princess Leia, Brann's role is nearly always him pressing buttons and running away from danger, and lets not get started on Fargo.

Perhaps the only serious, non-comical Dwarf is Muradin who encompasses the badassery Dwarves have always been about, yet his role outside of ICC's gunship has been mostly politics.

I know other races have had moments of being comic relief, such as gnomes, goblins and blood elves, yet Dwarves have ALWAYS been just drunk jokes.

I'm curious to know what other players think. Are Dwarves just a joke of a race, or are they respectable?

I think they are very respectable. The only comic relief race are pandas.

[Elegiac]

I think they are very respectable. The only comic relief race are pandas.

Gnomes. They're a ridiculous species that I (as an RPer) have a very difficult time taking seriously.

[TheWindWalker]

I think they are very respectable. The only comic relief race are pandas.

Careful, with bias that heavy you might topple over at any moment. The quests in Pandaria often turn pretty damn morbid. The first section of Golden Lotus dailies involves a terrace covered in Mogu torturing living and dead Pandaren. (Including one daily quest in which you exorcize Pandaren spirits that are mourning over their own mutilated bodies.) Anything involving Mantids coming in contact with Pandaren tends to involve lots of death. You can't even finish Kun-Lai without witnessing tragedies.

At this moment, I'd say Dwarves and Pandaren are somewhat tied for comedy and serious scenes in-game by percentage.

[Elegiac]

Careful, with bias that heavy you might topple over at any moment. The quests in Pandaria often turn pretty damn morbid. The first section of Golden Lotus dailies involves a terrace covered in Mogu torturing living and dead Pandaren. (Including one daily quest in which you exorcize Pandaren spirits that are mourning over their own mutilated bodies.) Anything involving Mantids coming in contact with Pandaren tends to involve lots of death. You can't even finish Kun-Lai without witnessing tragedies.

At this moment, I'd say Dwarves and Pandaren are somewhat tied for comedy and serious scenes in-game by percentage.

I could easily pull up counter examples of quests which are quite simply ridiculous (the poop quests, for instance).

Pandaren are more of a joke than Dwarves, I believe, because Pandaren were designed as a joke from the outset.

[Thimagryn]

Every race has their comic relief characters. Dwarves lovin to drink and fight is a part of their identity, just like being greedy is Goblin identity or being effeminiate for Blood Elves. There's also stalwart examples of Dwarves too, like Kurdran and Muradin. I do think there could be more Dwarven heroes,, but the game needs more named characters of any race in general. The Worgen and Draenei get little representation, and no one really cares about gnomes at all.

[Deleted]

Humbugged, try telling your avatar he's a joke id rather keep my head lol.

[Ghul]

they are probably only the least popular because of their bad racials. doesnt have much to do with the lore, at least thats what im guessing^^

[TheWindWalker]

I could easily pull up counter examples of quests which are quite simply ridiculous (the poop quests, for instance).

Pandaren are more of a joke than Dwarves, I believe, because Pandaren were designed as a joke from the outset.

Of course you can pull out counter-examples. Thrall knows, we can do the same back and forth the other way around with all the other races. We could even name "the poop quest" for each expansion as there's been quite a few. My point was, as you unfortunately are helping me prove, is that people come to the game with the mindset that Pandaren have to be a joke and thus completely ruins the immersion for the serious parts.

Can you and I at least agree that as far as being taken seriously goes, they're far better off than Gnomes?

[Soulwind]

Dwarves, goblins, gnomes and pandaren are the least serious races. But all of them have their heroic moments and heroes, so I don't really see them as just a comic relief.

It's also worth noting, that most if not all fantasy worlds have comical characters and races (gretchings in WH, dwarves in LotR...), and that Blizzard has never seen Warcraft as a 100% epic, serious story.

So I say yes, dwarves (and other races) can be used as comic reliefs, but that doesn't mean they only exist as such.

[Scummer]

I go as far to say they're 50/50 with seriousness and comedy.

I'd rather they were more 66/33 (Although I'd much prefer 75/25) as I think they do need some more serious stuff going on, their political wars, the return of the Dark Irons along with the fact Pandaria may provide an opportunity for Muradin to kick ass again are great instances to expand and have meaningful story. However I think I'd be an idiot to deny the fact Dwarves as a race to thrive on comedy situation without it becoming who they are as a race (Goblins and Gnomes), and to be truthful I enjoy a lot of their comedy as it never seems to be OTT - so I don't mind their being a perhaps larger than average amount of comedy.

I'd still call them serious. Muradin needs to show up on Pandaria to make this a true reality though.

[checking facts]

I could easily pull up counter examples of quests which are quite simply ridiculous (the poop quests, for instance).

Pandaren are more of a joke than Dwarves, I believe, because Pandaren were designed as a joke from the outset.

than orcs and shamans are also ridiculous, because there's a poop quest in nagrand's throne of the elements.

the pandaren were not designed to be a joke. they were designed by samwise didier to represent his family, as a personal project. someone at blizzard (maybe him) decided it could be funny to add some to the game and see the playerbase reaction (the pandaren relaxation area easter egg, for instance). people got curious about it, and on april fools, they decided to announce that the pandaren would be a new WC3 playable army.

that was the joke. they said the pandaren would get their own playable team for players to choose, when they actually wouldn't. but the pandaren themselves were never a joke.

[Deleted]

Dwarves are the master race, hands down.

[Malkazam]

they are probably only the least popular because of their bad racials. doesnt have much to do with the lore, at least thats what im guessing^^

Who really play a character for is racial ? Seriously this is so stupid !

I play my dwarf because i love how he look , love is animation when he fight , love how he laugh and i appreciated the lore they have.

Damn when you choose a character to play , your stuck with it after. Why take something who look awful only for the racial ? I never really understand that.

[Verdugo]

They should have been just like in Dwarf Fortress. Egoistical anti-enviromental elf-hating greedy bastards powered by booze with serious hatred of nobility.

I would roll one.