I must be stopped.

[snarp]

Cataclysm is coming out soon. I cannot be permitted to restart my subscription to see what the lead-up events are like. I'm probably not high enough level to access most of them, but I will be sucked back in nonetheless. My heart will be broken by the Orgrimmar redesign. My nerves will be shattered anew by the ethnic stereotypes and poor storytelling decisions. Dudes will say stuff about my hat.

Comments

[snarp]

My issues with the goblins are as follows:

1) Small stature and oversized noses and ears - all stereotyped ways of portraying Jews.

2) Nasal voices - see 1.

3) The women's Valley Girl speech patterns - the Valley Girl stereotype is considered kind of an offshoot of the Jewish American Princess type.

4) Obviously, all the money stuff.

See also: Space Jews.

[nagaina]

I can see where your argument is coming from -- there are, in fact, some stereotypical traits on the goblins, just as there are some stereotypical traits on most of the races in Azeroth. I am, however, saying that as a playable race, the goblins do not strike me as a Jewish stereotype so much as a combination of modern corporate entity gone horribly horribly wrong mixed liberally with entertainment-style depictions of the Mafia. Their traits also ping hard on the Mambo Italiano goodfellas and gun molls scale, particularly the women -- who do not particularly have "Valley Girl" stereotype speech patterns (that is, alas, the playable blood elf women -- really, my paladin does not come from California) so much as a rather broad New Yawk accent with accompanying Mafioso attitude.