Of Gnomes and Rogues

Being one of the only active Gnome mains in my guild means that I have to put up with a certain amount of, well…cowplop from my guildies about being a Gnome. I know they do it out of love (I mean, how can you not love someone with Princess Leia buns?!), but every once in a while I feel like a I need a day free from all of the jokes, jesting, ridicules, wisecracks and quips . In response to a request I made on our guild forums, our GM was wonderful enough to declare today “Official Don’t Make Fun of Gnomes Day!”

The rules are simple:
All forms of measurement are forbidden. No measuring tapes may be seen during the day.

So there will be much:

-Gnome hugging
-Gnome cuddling
-Gnome being treated with respect

There will be no:

-Gnome jokes
-Gnome punting
-Gnome punching
-Gnome ridicule
-Gnome teasing
-And specifically no mention on height

Of course most people will still probably ignore “the rules” and get in a joke or two, but the whole concept got me thinking about why people like to make fun of gnomes so much. *sigh* With this in mind, I’m dedicating my next post or two to gnomes and gnomish culture…a way to enlighten the masses, if you will, about how wonderful gnomes are (and why I think they are the best race in all of Azeroth).

I can just hear you now: You play a rogue!? And why in the world would you play a Gnome?! Don’t worry, I’ve heard it all before. I can answer both questions simply…yes and because I like them. To be honest, I can’t imagine being anything other than a Gnome rogue. Even in game, sometimes I really convince myself that I am 2 and a half feet tall with green Princess Leia buns. I’ve tried, and I mean really tried, to play other toons, but I just haven’t found one I like yet. The farthest I’ve gotten is a level 21 shammy, but she’s been sitting in an inn on Bloodmyst Isle for the better part of 2 months.

I warn you right now, I am not the best rogue out there…I don’t always have the right spec and I certainly don’t understand a lot of the theorycrafting. Reading Elitist Jerks, while informative, gives me a headache…but I will forage there when I need to. I do, however, like to dabble in all aspects of the game: Questing, Leveling, Raiding, Battlegrounds, Arena, Achievements and, of course, trumpeting Gnome rights (and biting the kneecaps off of Gnome punters across Azeroth and beyond).

I started playing WoW around March of 2008. I was bored one evening and rolled a toon on my hubby’s account. I didn’t expect I would like it at all…but I couldn’t stop playing. We actually had to buy a new computer so both of us could play at the same time. My first toon was a Night Elf Druid, but of course I had my own account practically the next day, so I rolled Pyxia…my sneaky, little Gnome Rogue with the green Princess Leia buns.

Since I was very new to MMO’s (I admit I tried Star Wars Galaxies before WoW – but only for a few weeks), I had no clue what I was doing, but I went about learning to play a rogue the best I could. I managed to level her up, guildless, to 70 before deciding on a guild. Not sure exactly why I did that, but it was kind of a personal challenge for me. I got to level 70 a few weeks before wrath released and applied to join my guild (shout out to Chivalry!).

My guild is great and they don’t mind that I talk incessantly or that I constantly say silly things in guild chat or that protect my gnomish pride to the death (often at the expense of a smelly druid joke). We raid, pvp, level, quest and hang out together, but the guild isn’t about that. It’s about friendship and camaraderie…something we have in abundance. All and all, I’m one happy little Gnome rogue.