What do you know about goblins in the Warcraft universe? They have been around since the early days but they never really got their time in the spotlight. That changes with the latest expansion to World of Warcraft’s The War Within. Undermined takes you into the goblin city of Undermine where former Trade Prince Gallywix is hiding. Using every favour and resource available to him, he’s assembled a powerful defence to hold off his pursuers.
Undermined brings you goblin culture in a way that no other expansion or game has explored. Checkpoint Gaming spoke to Blizzard Entertainment team members Mark Kelada, Assistant Lead Quest Designer, and Emily Berger, Senior Software Engineer, to learn more about the newest expansion.
“…it’s a lot less about the marquee characters and more about them as they exist in a society in Undermine.”
“What we haven’t really seen historically is how goblins interact with one another if they’re not really part of the same cartel. It’s usually ‘we’re the good ones, they’re the bad ones, they fight each other, congratulations (the) goblin stuff is dealt with’… it’s a lot less about the marquee characters and more about them as they exist in a society in Undermine” said Kelada. Everything we know about goblins now is just a fraction of what they are truly like. Thanks to the presence of cartels and their city, you get to see more nuances of goblins. They are more than the black-and-white morality from previous expansions. Your adventures in Undermine let you see the diversity of personalities with goblins, as well as how they interact with each other.
A big feature of Undermined is the four goblin cartels, with a potential fifth cartel waiting in the wings. Every week, each cartel has missions that you can take part in. It’s up to you if you want to work for all the cartels or dedicate yourself to one. You can express yourself depending on the cartel you align with and some goblins change their dialogue as a result of your allegiance. These missions are also side gigs that don’t force you into any particular allegiance nor will they draw any ire from other cartels. You choose where your loyalties lie and no one reacts badly even if you do this across your Warband.
With Berger in the conversation, a chance to talk about Warbands for the expansion came up.
“For 11.1 specifically, the main feature (were) the new campsites and the new camps. After we saw the player reception, players were really excited about seeing their characters on the character select screen in their camps. The two major parts are we added multiple different camps to let you create as many groups of camps as you want. Basically, you can make a set of all your goblins or all your healers in the Gallagio if you would like to. The second part is the addition of four new scenes, the four new campsites.
Kelada jumped in to add that a lot of work went into looking at whether features were character or Warband-specific. Warbands has also empowered the designers to reconsider the expectations of characters vs. accounts. Warbands gives you that feeling of your account having a party of adventurers as compared to one character per loading screen.
Another new feature in Undermined is the D.R.I.V.E mount, a vehicle mount that is faster than any other ground mount. It is your main form of transportation around Undermine. There are no plans to take the D.R.I.V.E. mount outside but it’s not a difficult mount to acquire. As players start taking their D.R.I.V.E around town, the developers will use the feedback to improve the experience. You can also engage in time trials around Undermine, challenging yourself to race around the city to set new records.
Kelada explained that this was similar to the dragonflight races in the World of Warcraft Dragonflight expansion. Thanks to the unique districts in Undermine, you get different environments to race in. He gave an example that you could organise races in these districts with your friends and experience more challenging obstacles. The races draw on the new environment of Undermine but also more advanced racing skills since there’s more to pay attention to.
There are also powerful Delve dungeons that tie in some of the other lore from The War Within. While the focus is on the goblins, there’s an overarching conflict that seeps into Undermine and it’s up to you to stop it. Joining you is Brann Bronzebeard who accompanies you through both Delve adventures. The conflict against Gallywix also reaches its peak when the cartels join forces to confront his new lieutenants. Each lieutenant has unique designs that push the boundaries of goblin technology, providing fun challenges for all raid participants.
If you are interested in the World of Warcraft Undermined expansion, now is a great time to log on and start playing.
About the Author
Victor Tan
He/Him
Victor spends his time trying to help players out of tricky situations and give them the guidance they need to succeed. Outside of the video game world, you can find him training at the gym or doing simple improv activities.
