Unveiling the Unchosen: Horde's Lost Race Almost Included at World of Warcraft's Launch

Highlights

A former WoW developer revealed that Ogres were intended to be a playable race for the Horde, but the lack of time for female Ogre models led to playable trolls instead.

The initial plan was for Pandaren to be an Alliance-exclusive race, but it was eventually decided to make them a neutral race accessible to both factions.

Originally, the first expansion of World of Warcraft was intended to revolve around a thrilling pirate adventure set in the South Seas, showcasing Nazjatar. However, this concept had to be abandoned due to technological constraints in rendering realistic water.

During a recent World of Warcraft charity event Q&A, a former World of Warcraft developer unveiled that the Horde was just weeks away from introducing Ogres as a playable race. This insightful revelation, along with other developer insights, was shared during the Dance of the Dead, an annual community event organized by World of Warcraft players on the Moon Guard server. The virtual event, which featured special guest Johnathan Staats, the renowned first 3D level designer on World of Warcraft, successfully raised $7,500 for the Wounded Warriors veteran support charity. Staats, who was affectionately hailed as the "hero of the WoW dev team" by his colleagues, has dedicated over a decade to Blizzard's renowned game.

During the Q&A session with Staats, a former employee of Blizzard, some interesting details about the early development period were revealed. Portergauge, a well-known fan and member of the World of Warcraft community, attended the session and provided a summary of the events on his personal Twitter account. It turns out that Ogres were originally intended to be the fourth race for the Horde in the original version of the game. This explains why they have a wide range of animations. However, due to time constraints, the female Ogre models could not be completed. As a result, the developers utilized Troll assets and made them playable instead.

In addition to this, Portergauge shared some other insights from Staats. It seems that the Pandaren race was initially planned to be an Alliance race in the original World of Warcraft, as the development team had a shared love for Kung Fu movies. However, unlike the Ogres, Pandaren eventually became a neutral race that could be played by both factions. Furthermore, the first expansion for World of Warcraft was originally intended to be centered around a South Seas pirate adventure with Nazjatar as a prominent location. Unfortunately, the idea was abandoned because the developers couldn't find a suitable technology to render water realistically.

World of Warcraft enthusiasts delighted in glimpsing the behind-the-scenes process of early game development. Among the potential playable races in WoW, Ogres have garnered considerable adoration from fans. Therefore, it was quite disheartening to discover that their inclusion almost came to fruition. However, the addition of playable Trolls was deemed a worthy trade-off, although many fans still longed to have both options. Considering that Pandarens and Nazjatar ultimately joined the game, there remains hope that Ogres will follow suit in the future.

The upcoming BlizzCon, scheduled for next week, has players eagerly anticipating the announcement of a new WoW expansion. While it is advisable for fans not to invest too much hope in the possibility of playing as Ogres, the forthcoming developments in World of Warcraft are undoubtedly poised to captivate and excite.

World of Warcraft is available now for PC.