Azelma wrote:
Yeah blizzard pissed on Paladin lore when they made Belf Paladins (but Squidgoats are shamans so we have to be fair LOLOLOL HERR DERR)...but at least they made a whole storyline to try to make it work. When they made Tauren paladins they just decided to take a huge, runny green shit all over Paladin lore.
Agreed, the squidgoat at least made sense, and they and their plotline did fit into the world pretty well. Yes, there was a retcon, but reconning is preferable to pretending nothing ever changed, and the retcon (who left where and when) is plausible. It makes sense that they can be both paladins and shamans, and their culture feels like it corroborates with their class choices (except hunter).
TBC was built around the squidgoat, but it's not just a "Disneyland Theme Ride", it felt like a cohesive universe. I especially liked the concept of emigration between the two worlds - squidgoat and Azerothians setting up shop on each others' worlds. I liked the way the human/squidgoat and nelf/squidgoat relationship was portrayed (and has been since).
Humans and squidgoat have an unequal relationship hobbled by human xenophobia and squidgoat overzealousness. The story of the squidgoat/nelf alliance seems to write itself. That is a hallmark sign of good character development.
And it could have been worse. They didn't make squidgoat ships or temples look like the Kremlin or Orthodox cathedrals, and they didn't make every plot element and location a Star Trek reference. The squidgoat aren't drunk on vodka or plotting mass fluoridation. (Interestingly, most of the squidgoat starting area consists of Classical and Persian references, not sci-fi).
I still think the squidgoat were great just because they were one of Blizzard's most truly original creations. There are dwarves, elves, orcs and now...pandas...in Azeroth, but the squidgoat don't look, act, sound or think like anything else.
