Official Hobbit Discussion Megathread

[Syegfryed]

another human like race for the alliance who look just like gnomes, i pretty sure alliance would love a made from thin air, they apparently love races created from the spot who were hiding all along.

They sure will love when they get a gnome variant and the horde an entire different new race and would never complain about horde bias about it

And sure, to make it even better, their racial mount should be a pony, a tiny horse

[Garneth]

another human like race for the alliance who look just like gnomes, i pretty sure alliance would love a made from thin air, they apparently love races created from the spot who were hiding all along.

They sure will love when they get a gnome variant and the horde an entire different new race and would never complain about horde bias about it

And sure, to make it even better, their racial mount should be a pony, a tiny horse

Well, quite intriguingly, WoW now has FOUR "tiny" races - goblins, gnomes, vulpera, mechagnome. BUT! WoW only has two (basically one) "medium"-sized race: dwarves (and dark iron dwarves).

So a halfling race would actually fit in pretty neatly by providing a new medium sized option.

[Razion]

Not sure how I feel about this topic but it did make me think about how Tel'Abim isn't yet accessible and hopefully will be one day. That island hasn't really been given any lore as far as I know aside from bananas, some shipwrecked maniac, and a geographic location. A hobbit-inspired race could be brought in as inhabitants of the island, and their lack of appearance in Azeroth as a whole could be explained as reclusiveness / lack of technological capabilities / remote island location / "why leave when we have all the bananas we could eat and export right here."

Another possibility of an unused area in the game is the Northern Lordaeron, or AKA Quel'Thalas/Eastern Kingdom contested closed off zone that lies north of the Eastern Plaguelands. This area was where Deathwing's alias Daval Prestor was supposedly from, and also where Terenas initially could have helped negotiations of borders with the elves of Quel'Thalas. If the Halflings are going to be nature-focused as a people, them living in elven lands and especially high elf lands would help cement why as a people they would be so natural as the elves could have had a profound influence on their cultural development. The zone also partially conjoins with the Twilight Highlands at points, which considering the Dwarf housing in Twilight Highlands could even help explain how or why the Dwarves adapted that kind of housing structure style in the first place as it could have come from the proximity of Halflings just nearby or may have even been inherited from them. Early dev maps that included the area have put the Dragon Isles in close proximity to the zone, and considering Alexstrazsa was planned to be located here could help further cement reasoning for how the Halflings got so attuned to nature as well - being in such close proximity to a staging ground of the Aspect of Life. The Maelstrom offers a strong slingshot effect that could have been utilized by those sailing from the Dragon Isles to more easily reach other islands across the ocean such as Tel'Abim as well..

[SinR]

they have Halflings.

they're called Gnomes

[Kyphael]

they have Halflings.

they're called Gnomes

Dwarves are halflings. Gnomes are more like garden decorations.

[Dunkelzahn]

And both Hobbits and Halflings are well protected IP by JRR Tolkien Estate and WotC (or whatever they are called today).

And you'd be painfully wrong about that, at least regarding halflings.

One shouldn't say things with such conviction when they have no idea what they're talking about.

[matrix123mko]

how are halflings/hobbits any different from gnomes?

Halflings are primitive gnomes.

- - - Updated - - -

What about just including a gnome group that never developed technology and lived on an island. They would have no biological difference and they would just be assimilated.

[Dellis0991]

I can get behind this, I loved my trickster rogue halfling in neverwinter!

[Kaleredar]

What an odd thread.


Halflings have never existed in Warcraft. Not even hinted at or alluded to. I can see no space they'd occupy that isn't already taken up by gnomes or dwarves, or wouldn't be better served just going to one of them.


Let's assess the races added to WoW thus far:

Blood Elves: Fel-addicted high elves; high elves have been in the warcraft lore since Warcraft 2.
Draenei: light-infused Aliens. Though retconned to be eredar, both eredar and draenei have been in lore since Warcraft 3
Goblins: Money grubbing, technology-obsessed miscreants. Have been in lore since Warcraft 2.
Worgen: Humans twisted by a druidic curse. The concept of Worgen have existed since Vanilla WoW, while humans obviously existed in Warcraft 1.
Pandaren: nature-attuned progeny of a wild god. Have existed in lore since Warcraft 3.

as for allied races:

Nightborne: Night Elves that were locked away within Suramar city. Night Elves have been in lore since Warcraft 3.
Highmountain Tauren: Descendents of Huln Highmountain, and a different tribe of Tauren. Tauren have been in the lore since Warcraft 3.
Dark Iron Dwarves: Clan of dwarves attuned to their volcanic home of blackrock mountain. Dwarves have been in the lore since Warcraft 2, dark irons since Vanilla.
Zandalari Trolls: Former leaders of the united Troll empires. Trolls have been in the lore since Warcraft 2, Zandalari themselves have been in the game since vanilla.
Mechagnomes: Gnomes that sought mechanization to enhance their bodies. Gnomes have been in the lore since Warcraft 2.
Lightforged Draenei: Faction of Draenei that were empowered by the light to fight the Burning Legion. See Draenei/eredar, Warcraft 3, etc.
Void Elves: Blood elves banished from their home for seeking the powers of the void. Yadda yadda high elves, Warcraft 2, yadda yadda.
Mag'har orc: Orcs untainted by the demonic curse. Orcs, warcraft 1... you get the picture.
Vulpera: New in the expansion they were introduced in, but draw from a long precedent of animal races derived from Wild Gods.

And halflings are... some race of... something that isn't gnomes or dwarves... from an island somewhere? Like I said... what take on them couldn't just be foisted upon gnomes or dwarves and instantly make a lot more lore sense? You'd have a better shot of pitching pygmies, or those random sand gnomes from the bone wastes in terrokar, being added to the game before "halflings."

If you're so bent on halflings, I'm sure you could cobble up a decent hobbit transmog for a gnome.

[Razion]

another human like race for the alliance who look just like gnomes, i pretty sure alliance would love a made from thin air, they apparently love races created from the spot who were hiding all along.

They sure will love when they get a gnome variant and the horde an entire different new race and would never complain about horde bias about it

And sure, to make it even better, their racial mount should be a pony, a tiny horse

Smaller mounts are very welcome for smaller races. It's pretty absurd when all the other mounts aren't proportionate to the rider as much. Someone mentioned swans and ducks elsewhere, maybe those would make fun mounts. Might even be very appropriate, since that one river goes through Northern Lordaeron, or if they're on Tel'Abim a water-friendly mount may be pretty appropriate.

And I mean, they don't HAVE to be Alliance, it just seemed like it would make the most sense, considering how much the Horde hates Gnomes and likes to punt them it didn't seem right to give them the 'better' iteration of Gnomes - might make Gnomes angry the Alliance doesn't get the 'good' version, and Horde may be kinda angry to get Gnomes at all.

There is a way it could work for Horde though. Being from Quel'thalas, surrounded by Undercity and Silvermoon, it kind of gives them two ins with Horde races if they hit it off, which they might considering the relative close Scourge prescence. Or, with Tel'Abim so close to Org and Kezan, it kind of gives them those areas as close neighbors as well.

[Syegfryed]

Smaller mounts are very welcome for smaller races. It's pretty absurd when all the other mounts aren't proportionate to the rider as much. Someone mentioned swans and ducks elsewhere, maybe those would make fun mounts. Might even be very appropriate, since that one river goes through Northern Lordaeron, or if they're on Tel'Abim a water-friendly mount may be pretty appropriate.

And I mean, they don't HAVE to be Alliance, it just seemed like it would make the most sense, considering how much the Horde hates Gnomes and likes to punt them it didn't seem right to give them the 'better' iteration of Gnomes - might make Gnomes angry the Alliance doesn't get the 'good' version, and Horde may be kinda angry to get Gnomes at all.

There is a way it could work for Horde though. Being from Quel'thalas, surrounded by Undercity and Silvermoon, it kind of gives them two ins with Horde races if they hit it off, which they might considering the relative close Scourge prescence. Or, with Tel'Abim so close to Org and Kezan, it kind of gives them those areas as close neighbors as well.

i will just assume you are joking with my own joke

[Amarys]

Well, quite intriguingly, WoW now has FOUR "tiny" races - goblins, gnomes, vulpera, mechagnome. BUT! WoW only has two (basically one) "medium"-sized race: dwarves (and dark iron dwarves).

So a halfling race would actually fit in pretty neatly by providing a new medium sized option.

It has way more of them. Blood and void elves are about the size of dwarves. Undead too, while technically human sized (and humans could qualify as medium sized too), they're hunched over and look way smaller and scrawnier.

- - - Updated - - -

Halflings have never existed in Warcraft. Not even hinted at or alluded to. I can see no space they'd occupy that isn't already taken up by gnomes or dwarves, or wouldn't be better served just going to one of them.

Technically their space is occupied more by pandas (love food and easy going) than dwarves or gnomes. As for "no hint of them". Well, wheres the hint of those nasty furries existing before BfA? And now they're playable. Or void elves.

Hell they could even give them the draenei treatment, using pygmies. With pygmies being their inbred relatives with some kind of corruption and halflings being the uncorrupted, playable version.

[Zyrinx]

EverQuest had/has Halflings fwiw.

[Kyphael]

What an odd thread.


Halflings have never existed in Warcraft. Not even hinted at or alluded to. I can see no space they'd occupy that isn't already taken up by gnomes or dwarves, or wouldn't be better served just going to one of them.


Let's assess the races added to WoW thus far:

Blood Elves: Fel-addicted high elves; high elves have been in the warcraft lore since Warcraft 2.
Draenei: light-infused Aliens. Though retconned to be eredar, both eredar and draenei have been in lore since Warcraft 3
Goblins: Money grubbing, technology-obsessed miscreants. Have been in lore since Warcraft 2.
Worgen: Humans twisted by a druidic curse. The concept of Worgen have existed since Vanilla WoW, while humans obviously existed in Warcraft 1.
Pandaren: nature-attuned progeny of a wild god. Have existed in lore since Warcraft 3.

as for allied races:

Nightborne: Night Elves that were locked away within Suramar city. Night Elves have been in lore since Warcraft 3.
Highmountain Tauren: Descendents of Huln Highmountain, and a different tribe of Tauren. Tauren have been in the lore since Warcraft 3.
Dark Iron Dwarves: Clan of dwarves attuned to their volcanic home of blackrock mountain. Dwarves have been in the lore since Warcraft 2, dark irons since Vanilla.
Zandalari Trolls: Former leaders of the united Troll empires. Trolls have been in the lore since Warcraft 2, Zandalari themselves have been in the game since vanilla.
Mechagnomes: Gnomes that sought mechanization to enhance their bodies. Gnomes have been in the lore since Warcraft 2.
Lightforged Draenei: Faction of Draenei that were empowered by the light to fight the Burning Legion. See Draenei/eredar, Warcraft 3, etc.
Void Elves: Blood elves banished from their home for seeking the powers of the void. Yadda yadda high elves, Warcraft 2, yadda yadda.
Mag'har orc: Orcs untainted by the demonic curse. Orcs, warcraft 1... you get the picture.
Vulpera: New in the expansion they were introduced in, but draw from a long precedent of animal races derived from Wild Gods.

And halflings are... some race of... something that isn't gnomes or dwarves... from an island somewhere? Like I said... what take on them couldn't just be foisted upon gnomes or dwarves and instantly make a lot more lore sense? You'd have a better shot of pitching pygmies, or those random sand gnomes from the bone wastes in terrokar, being added to the game before "halflings."

If you're so bent on halflings, I'm sure you could cobble up a decent hobbit transmog for a gnome.

With that mentality, there can never be anything fresh introduced to WoW. Everything must henceforth be an offshoot of something. You think when Blizzard was conceptualizing Worgen back in Vanilla's development, somebody went "well we can't do that! There's no precedent for werewolves in WoW." Most of WoW's lore wasn't even fully fleshed out in Vanilla, they had to make up a ton of stuff to fill the world, and here we are. Azeroth is a big world. There are always mysteries and new lands to uncover, and pre-existing lore shouldn't curb creativity and continuing world building, certainly not in an MMO. It hasn't stopped Blizzard from creating entire new concepts and races that had never been hinted at before in any medium, be it in-game, novels, comics, or short stories, and the existence of Halflings definitely shouldn't stop them now and it wouldn't break any lore or contradict.

[devilzxlin]

i would be glad to see those classes to be added in to world of warcraft

[LemonDemonGirl]

But Hobbits have never existed in WoW and we already have Gnomes who are similar.

What if they're just Dwarf/Gnome hybrids? That could work I guess

[Hawkknight97]

Pointly Ear Gnomes? Halfings? You got my Vote. Yes for Halfling Options for Gnomes! XD

[Pakomyuop]

Orcs - the top were and will be!

[Rhlor]

gnomes are blizz hobbit

[Orby]

Halflings are primitive gnomes.

- - - Updated - - -

What about just including a gnome group that never developed technology and lived on an island. They would have no biological difference and they would just be assimilated.

Oh you mean like the Sand Gnomes?

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Sand_gnome