Engineering in the Media (II) - Warcraft

So I was playing Dota (A Warcraft III custom game titled "Defense of the Ancients") the other day with some friends on my floor, and I started to notice a bit of a trend with the characters. Although it's a fantasy based game, there are still elements of technology within the make-believe world. Of course, it's not the humans or the elves that are using the technology; they don't need it due to their physical prowess or their abilities with magic. No, it's the midgit races that are "the only ones intelligent enough" to make use of it.

In Azeroth, there are two races that are seen to be the Engineers.

Gnomes:

"The eccentric, often-brilliant Gnomes are one of the most peculiar races of the world. With their obsession for developing radical new technologies and constructing marvels of mind-bending engineering, it's a wonder that any Gnomes have survived to proliferate." [1]

and the Goblins:

"Goblins are small humanoids, crafty and shrewd, bearing an overwhelming interest in commerce and a strong curiosity about mechanical things...Other races universally view goblins as inventors, merchants and, without exception, maniacs. Goblins value technology as a useful aspect of commerce. Some say that their advantage — and their curse — is to be the primary users of technology in a world governed by magic. While dwarves and gnomes share a similar gift, goblin technology is more far-reaching and sinister and makes a larger impact on the natural world. " [2]

Although it's a little concerning how our (engineers) image in the media is that of dorky short people with a knack for machinery, it's interesting how even in a video game, they decpict (of course in an exaggerated way) different approaches to engineering.

One one side, Gnomes tend to plan out their projects in great detail before starting to build a prototype. If they run into problems, they try to figure out what went wrong and tend to tinker around with things to improve them. This results in low failure rates for their devices, but often results in increased costs and occasionally, time. Goblins on the other hand tend to just improvise and invent on the fly. Many times their devices are made just to see what will happen, which results in a large number of strange devices that have no use. Their main motivation is profit, and are impatient when it comes to research. However, as most of their inventions deal with explosives of some sort, many goblin engineers end up blowing up their laboratories, and themselves.

Although the physical traits of an engineer aren't accurately (or at least I hope not) depicted in this game, the range in engineering methodology is, and shows how necessary it is that a balance is found between the two. It regardless of how good a design is, if it's too expensive or takes too long to develop, it will never see the light of day. However, if one is too reckless, then people's lives could be put in danger.

In the end, I suppose this is all just for fun as it's a game. I could try sending in a request to Blizzard Entertainment to create a more accurate engineering race, but I must say, it is quite satisfying and entertaining to be a two foot tall mad genius. =P

[1] World of Warcraft: Races. "Gnomes," Blizzard Entertainment, [Online] Avalible: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/gnomes.html [Accessed Mar 18 2009].
[2] WoWWiki. "Goblins," [Online] Avalilble: http://www.wowwiki.com/Goblins [Accessed Mar 18 2009].