The 2000 D&D: 3E (WoTC) entry is both a slight improvement on what had been written before, and an unholy travesty -- mostly an unholy travesty.  

Let us begin by acknowledging one huge improvement over prior entries. Finally, the authors deign to give the standard (non-warrior) goblin “Average” Intelligence and Wisdom. Admittedly, this comes at the cost of a below-average Charisma score. This is no surprise – after all, Charisma is one of those traits that are in the eye of the beholder, and the sad fact is that most readers of the Monster Manual are daisy-munching elf-lovers with man-crushes on Orlando Bloom, quite incapable of appreciating the quiet dignity of goblins’ “drab, soiled-looking colors.” Still, if this was the sum total of the racism against the fine goblin race, we could all applaud heartily – goblins are finally recognized as being as intelligent and wise as any other race.  

Alas, the progress ends there. After the stat block is over, goblins are quickly described as little more than a nuisance, and soon thereafter their eyes are again described as dull and glazed. Unable to describe goblins’ Intelligence as “Average (lower)”, as it would be too confusing to state goblins’ average Intelligence score as “10 (5)” (a range of values just won’t cut it in 3E), the authors resolved to get in this petty little dig, as if to say “Yes, the stat block describes them as average intelligence, but you know . . . we were just kidding.” Also noteworthy is the change in goblins’ size -- no doubt to make the gnomes and halflings feel less threatened, the average height of goblins drops from 4 feet tall in 2E to 3’ to 3½ feet tall in 3E. 

The slurs continue, of course:

“The concept of a fair fight is meaningless in their society. They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other edge they can devise . . . goblins have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, tending to flee the field if a battle turns against them.”

Indeed. Cowardly swine, attacking from the bushes, fleeing when the battle turns against them. For shame. Clearly, a “poor grasp of strategy.” Nothing like elves . . .

From the 3E Monster Manual:

“Elves are cautious warriors . . . maximizing their advantage by using ambushes, snipers, and camouflage. They prefer to fire from cover and retreat before they are found, repeating this maneuver until all of their enemies are dead.”

It’s good to know that “firing from cover and retreating . . . until all of their enemies are dead” does not count as a dirty trick. Clearly, there’s just something about an elven ambush that makes them classier than a goblin ambush – probably the fact that while in melee, “elves are graceful and deadly, using complex maneuvers that are beautiful to observe.” Again, it does not require an overactive imagination to envision the writers of this trash sitting at their computers in their underwear, staring dreamily at their full-sized Legolas posters while typing this tripe.

But perhaps we are being unfair to elves. The tactics of other “good-aligned” character races are not dissimilar: 

“Gnomes prefer misdirection and deception over direct confrontation. They would rather befuddle or embarrass foes (other than goblinoids or kobolds) than kill them. Gnomes make heavy use of illusion magic and carefully prepared ambushes and traps whenever they can.” 

“Halflings are cunning, resourceful survivors and opportunists . . . [they] prefer to fight defensively, usually hiding and launching ranged attacks . . . their tactics are very much like those of elves.”  

Perhaps some of these character races could hold some instructional classes on how to make one’s ambushes, misdirections, and deceptions respectable.  

There are a few other gems, such as “Goblins survive by raiding and stealing (preferably from those who cannot defend themselves easily)” – I think we can all agree this sounds more like typical adventurer behavior than anything. There are also the usual slurs about slave labor, and the repeated references to goblins being smelly and filthy but nothing we haven’t heard before. Tragically, the one thing that goblins could be proud of – their mining ability – has been removed.

One wonders what took them so long.