Summary
A formerWorld of Warcraftdeveloper revealed the Horde was a matter of weeks away from getting Ogres as a playable race. This, and other developer insights, were shared during a recentWorld of Warcraftcharity event Q&A.
Dance of the Dead is a yearly community event organized byWorld of Warcraftplayers on the Moon Guard server. This year, it managed to raise $7,500 for the Wounded Warriors veteran support charity at the virtual event, which hosted special guest Johnathan Staats–the first 3D level designer onWorld of Warcraft, described as the “hero of theWoWdev team” by his fellows during his more than 10 years at Blizzard.
During the Q&A period with Staats, the former Blizzard employee spoke on some highlights from early in the development period. Portergauge, a popularWorld of Warcraftfan and community member, was in attendance and summarized the events of the Q&A on his personal Twitter. Apparently, Ogres were originally planned to be the fourth race for the Horde in vanilla, which is why they have so many animations. However, the devs ran out of time for the female Ogre models, soWorld of Warcraftco-opted Troll assets, leading to the lanky warriors being playable instead.
Portergauge shared a few other insights from Staats as well. Pandaren was going to be an Alliance race in vanillaWorld of Warcraftbecause the development team universally loved Kung Fu movies. However, unlike Ogres, Pandaren at least later joinedWoWas a neutral race available to both sides. Additionally, the firstWorld of Warcraftexpansionwas supposed to be a South Seas pirate adventure featuring Nazjatar, but the idea was scrapped because the developers couldn’t figure out the technology to render water well.
World of Warcraftfans loved getting a look behind the mirror of developing the early game. Ogres are one of the most popular candidates forbecoming playable races inWoW, so learning they almost were was devastating for their fans. Even so, most agreed getting playable Trolls was worth the sacrifice, even if most would prefer to have both. Pandarens and Nazjatar eventually made it into the game, so if players are lucky, Ogres will follow suit someday.
BlizzCon is taking place next week, and players are expecting to see thereveal of a newWoWexpansion. While fans probably shouldn’t get their hopes up about playable Ogres, whatever comes next inWorld of Warcraftis sure to be exciting.
