Former World of Warcraft Dev Reveals Aborted Plans for Playable Ogres in Early Game Development

At the recent Dance of the Dead charity event, former World of Warcraft developer Johnathan Staats unveiled some intriguing insights into the game’s early development during a Q&A session. Staats, a pivotal figure in WoW’s creation, disclosed that Ogres were on the verge of becoming a playable Horde race in the game’s vanilla stage. However, due to time constraints in modeling the female Ogre characters, Trolls were utilized, leading to the iconic but lanky Troll warriors as playable characters instead.

Other revelations surfaced during the Q&A. Initially, Pandaren were intended for the Alliance in vanilla WoW due to the development team’s collective fondness for Kung Fu films. While Pandaren eventually entered the game as a neutral race, the first expansion’s concept, a South Seas pirate adventure featuring Nazjatar, was scrapped due to technological rendering difficulties with water.

The disclosures provided a fascinating glimpse into World of Warcraft’s development history, leaving fans intrigued by the game’s alternate paths. Many lamented the missed opportunity for playable Ogres, a highly desired addition. Yet, the compromise resulted in the beloved playable Trolls. With Pandaren and Nazjatar eventually making it into the game, fans remain hopeful that Ogres might also join the roster someday.

BlizzCon, scheduled for the upcoming week, is anticipated to reveal the new World of Warcraft expansion. While playable Ogres might not be on the horizon, the future of WoW is anticipated to bring new and thrilling content.