Blizzard has dug into the treasure chamber and found some almost “antique” images of Warcraft. Interesting how Azeroth was supposed to look in the past.
World of Warcraft has now been around for more than 16 years, making it one of the longest-running and most successful MMORPGs of all time. As Blizzard is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, they have dug a little into the company’s treasure chambers and unearthed some details from a time when World of Warcraft was still in its infancy. The finds were published by the Twitter account of WoW, evoking quite a few nostalgic memories.
First Map of Azeroth
One of the finds is an original map of Azeroth, designed by Chris Metzen in 1999. Metzen was the creative director at Blizzard at the time and played a significant role in shaping the Warcraft universe.
The map largely corresponds to what can still be explored in WoW today. The Eastern Kingdoms, Lordaeron, Quel’Thalas, and Northrend have maintained their approximate positions and are represented as such in the game.
Kalimdor, on the other hand, looks quite different. While some details, such as the location of Hyjal, are still present, many other things have disappeared. The former “Dark Elves” have been renamed Night Elves, and the “Sunken Lands” are likely the Broken Isles, which have also shifted their position somewhat. The point marked “TOS” is, by the way, the Tomb of Sargeras, and the rough position is accurate.
Undermine, a metropolis of goblins, never made it into the game.
A fun detail: Northrend was supposed to be called “Northrond” at one point but was later renamed.
Dwarves Were Even More Compact
Another find is a very early concept drawing of the Dwarves. Even back then, technically savvy, they came with sunglasses and binoculars to detect dangers near their mountains early on. Long beards and large axes were already part of their design.
In terms of body size, the dwarf in the artwork still resembles a gnome; everything seems a bit more compact than in the later implementation of Warcraft III or World of Warcraft.
WoW Nearly 20 Years Ago
The most interesting find might be a screenshot from a very early prototype of World of Warcraft. It shows a male human in front of an inn. The model of the humans was significantly revised before the release, as was the entire graphic style. In the shown image, World of Warcraft has almost a more realistic graphic style, which was later replaced by the comic graphic that fans worldwide appreciate today, ensuring that WoW still looks solid after 16 years.
The user interface was also still very minimalistic at that time. There were not many more than a few buttons for spells. The character window also did not provide much information about the precise values.
It’s definitely interesting to see how Warcraft has changed over the years and what has become of some simple drawings in the end.
With such finds, one would love to dig through Blizzard’s sacred chambers and see what else is there to be discovered…
