Official Hobbit Discussion Megathread

[Kyphael]

SO a quarter elf with hairy feet xmog.

Maybe we just make them a customisation for Elves then

Oh come on, if Draenei with tattoos got their one new race slot, surely, a diminutive humanoid Halfling with pointy ears and large feet is distinct enough to get its own new race slot!

[Amarys]

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

They most certainly are not. I know a ton of games that has halflings, some from smaller studios that have most certainly not negotiated or got the Estates permission. Obviously they can't copy paste the Shire from LotR but WoW can have their own version of them with slight changes.

[Villager720]

So, nature gnomes?

[Kyphael]

So, nature gnomes?

Yep, but with a scaled down human rig and fresh aesthetics.

Their racial can be Food Fight!: Toss a handful of poison berries into your opponent's mouth, poisoning and stunning them for 3 seconds. "They taste like... burning!"

[Villager720]

Yep, but with a scaled down human rig and fresh aesthetics.

Their racial can be Food Fight!: Toss a handful of poison berries into your opponent's mouth, poisoning and stunning them for 3 seconds. "They taste like... burning!"

Aren't gnomes one of the least popular races though? Why add more?

[Tuor]

Being myself a huge Tolkien fan, i think there is something in this thread that doesn't compute.

[Kyphael]

Aren't gnomes one of the least popular races though? Why add more?

They would definitely be distinct from Gnomes, visually, and height-wise maybe between a gnome and a dwarf, and appeal to fans of the Halflings concept.

[gurutikka]

No it has not been settled here's why.

1) High Elves should have been their own allied race

2) They gave High Elf skin tones to Void Elves but what about High Elf hairstyles? Why can't they get blonde, black, brown and red hair?

[schwarzkopf]

They most certainly are not.

Just in case you missed it - They most certainly are.

Of course, as someone said before (and I agreed with) the word itself predates D&D - but the modern and popular concept of a Halfling is very much D&D.

In the same way 'coke' is a very old word, but today corresponds with a very much trademarked name.

[Kyphael]

No it has not been settled here's why.

1) High Elves should have been their own allied race

2) They gave High Elf skin tones to Void Elves but what about High Elf hairstyles? Why can't they get blonde, black, brown and red hair?

Please refer all discussion to the High Elf Megathread. This is the Hobbit Megathread, where we discuss the inclusion of playable Halflings into Warcraft.

[Protar95]

Though of course they have little basis in WoW lore I'd quite like to see a small race in wow that wasn't massively disproportionate. Gnomes look less like a small race of people and more like ugly walking babies. And WoW is also currently lacking in a "faerie" type race. I'd lean less into the vibe Tolkien gave his hobbits - essentially analogues of ordinary country-folk and more into a mystical fae direction.

[Amarys]

Just in case you missed it - They most certainly are.

Of course, as someone said before (and I agreed with) the word itself predates D&D - but the modern and popular concept of a Halfling is very much D&D.

In the same way 'coke' is a very old word, but today corresponds with a very much trademarked name.

What does Tolkien Estate have to do with D&D? They are completely different and separate universes. Now Hobbit might be trademarked but halfling is just a normal word for a half sized person and Blizzard is completely free to use them, provided they don't use halfling characters(Like Frodo Baggins) or other trademarked stuff from Tolkien's works.

And using your own example.. Coca Cola might be trademarked.. but Cola on it's own isn't. This is why we have Pepsi Cola and Bulgarian Crab Cola and other stuff like that.

[Razion]

Aren't gnomes one of the least popular races though? Why add more?

We can rebuild them... make them cooler, sexier, handsomer, nature-loving, leaner... all the best of elves, but gloriously - gloriously - short.

[Kyphael]

We can rebuild them... make them cooler, sexier, handsomer, nature-loving, leaner... all the best of elves, but gloriously - gloriously - short.

Hear, hear! I'm a big Tolkien fan, but man, the designs from Halflings in D&D are wicked, too.





And like @Protar95 said, I like gnomes, but they move and look like Chucky and Tiffany dolls. There is definitely room for a Halfling race after some of the repetitive Allied Races we got.

[Garneth]

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."

[Kyphael]

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 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."

You just created a Halfling starting zone on Azeroth.

[taishar68]

Could you imagine an RP guild called <The Sackville-Bagginses> and they went around constantly trying to knock holes in your walls and steal your cutlery? Oh the shenanigans.

[Kyphael]

Could you imagine an RP guild called <The Sackville-Bagginses> and they went around constantly trying to knock holes in your walls and steal your cutlery? Oh the shenanigans.

Would definitely be a fun feature for guild or player housing which could be introduced along with Halflings.

[Garneth]

You just created a Halfling starting zone on Azeroth.

Tel'Abim it is. Now to spend the next fifty pages on some headcanon!

[Kyphael]

Tel'Abim it is. Now to spend the next fifty pages on some headcanon!

I like the idea of their emergence following Shadowlands when the game and Azeroth is in a state of a soft lore reboot. Shadowlands can be a sort of farewell to old lore of sorts by featuring so many old characters, and by the time Halflings step out into an Azeroth that has seen peace between Horde and Alliance for some decades, Anduin Wrynn is an older, wiser king, the Horde Council is tried and true, and new threats arise.