Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans is a cancelled graphic adventure game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Animation Magic from 1996 until 1998. Set in the Warcraft universe after the events of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, it followed the orc character Thrall in his quest to reunite his race, then living on reservations and in slavery following its defeat by the human Alliance. Assuming the role of Thrall, the player would have used a point-and-click interface to explore the world, solve puzzles and interact with characters from the wider Warcraft series.
Warcraft Adventures was conceived in late 1996, when Blizzard's sister company Capitol Multimedia suggested that the Warcraft license might be suited to an adventure game. Blizzard co-developed the project with Animation Magic, a subdivision of Capitol responsible for the CD-i games from The Legend of Zelda series. The team opted for a conservative design approach influenced by LucasArts adventure games such as The Dig and Full Throttle. Blizzard struggled to adapt to the adventure genre, and delayed Warcraft Adventures past its original release date of late 1997. Game designer Steve Meretzky was hired to revise the project in February 1998, resulting in a plan to edit and improve the nearly-completed game with minimal changes to its art. Meretzky's plan went largely unused, as Blizzard determined that its implementation would lead to excessive delays. Instead, the project was canceled in May 1998, after roughly 18 months of work.
Warcraft Adventures received significant pre-release attention from the gaming public and press, and the decision to cancel it was met with fan backlash and critical disappointment. Despite the game's cancellation, its story was adapted into the novel Warcraft: Lord of the Clans (2001) by Christie Golden, and was the basis for Blizzard's real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Elements of the game later influenced World of Warcraft and the 2016 film Warcraft. A nearly-finished version of the game was leaked online in September 2016. Reviewing the leaked version, critics generally praised its visuals, but several found its design uninspired.
Gameplay and plot
left|thumb|Thrall (standing) speaks to two drunken orcs north of [[Warcraft#Setting|Khaz Modan.]]
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans was a graphic adventure game with a point-and-click interface, In the end, Thrall would have rallied the Horde as its leader, Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans was ultimately conceived at Blizzard late that year, The team's inspiration for the project was a proposal by Capitol Multimedia, a subsidiary of Blizzard parent Davidson & Associates, to use the Warcraft license for a graphic adventure game. and was impressed by its art department. as well as the Legend of Zelda games for the CD-i game console. Roper noted that the company's work "totally reminded us of all of those adventure games we loved playing", and Blizzard chose to co-develop the game with the team. Roper similarly remarked that the company was hoping to branch out beyond strategy games, and to become a developer of varied titles that matched the "eclectic" taste of its staff. The Warcraft Adventures concept appealed to the team in part because it allowed greater room than a strategy title to explore Warcrafts setting, The team envisioned Warcraft Adventures as the first game in a possible series of story-based Warcraft spin-offs in the adventure genre. particularly the 1995 titles The Dig and Full Throttle, although without the latter's use of arcade-action sequences. Certain Sierra On-Line adventures inspired the team as well.
Production
Production of Warcraft Adventures was split between multiple locations. Although the project direction and design occurred in Irvine, California at Blizzard Entertainment, the code and art were developed by divisions of Animation Magic: the former in Boston, and the latter in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The direction of the art was a collaborative effort. At the beginning, Bill Roper explained that Blizzard "gave [Animation Magic] a world sheet, which was basically 'Here is the world. This is what the characters are like. Here are sketches of some, some of the descriptions.' " The art team built from this framework, and periodically delivered the results to Blizzard for approval. Animation Magic also offered input on certain game design decisions, although Roper noted that "the vast majority" of Warcraft Adventures design derived from Blizzard.
Warcraft Adventures script was not written for particular actors, and its initial voice-recording sessions in Boston did not include major names, although all roles were portrayed by professional union members. The production pipeline became a major source of problems for the team. While Blizzard used rapid iterative design techniques to develop its games, the distance between the teams creating Warcraft Adventures slowed down production and made the iteration process more challenging. Around 20 minutes' worth of animated cutscenes were ultimately created for the game. Later that year, Roper reported that Blizzard felt the art was coming out well. and was Blizzard's second title planned for that year, alongside StarCraft. According to Neilson, Warcraft Adventures was growing close to completion around August 1997, but Blizzard was unsatisfied with the results. He saw StarCraft, which had just undergone a redesign, as the higher-quality project at that time. Neilson wrote, "The prevailing opinion was that the game wasn't as fun as the adventure games we had all come to know and love. Beyond that, however, even the adventure games of that time were moving to 3D." Meetings were held about reworking the game. Combined with the delay of StarCraft, the setbacks to Warcraft Adventures were troubling to Blizzard, as they resulted in no flagship titles being launched in 1997. and had recently released The Space Bar with Boffo Games. Blizzard saw him as an expert in the genre, who could correct any mistakes that the team had made due to inexperience.
Meretzky spent a week at Blizzard's Irvine headquarters in mid-February 1998, it soon slipped to winter. However, most of Meretzky's redesign ultimately was not used in the game. Roper believed that improving the game to Blizzard's expected level of quality meant "starting over",
As a result of the review, the "Strike Team" opted to end development of Warcraft Adventures, which Roper called the "best [option] for our brand and the WarCraft license." However, excitement grew high for the game among players and journalists; A writer for Computer Gaming World remarked of the showing, "They've conquered the strategy and RPG genres, and now the Blizzard wunderkinds are taking on adventure games in their newest title—and only a fool would bet against them."
By 1997, concern was rising inside the game industry that the adventure genre was in danger of dying out, an issue of which Blizzard was aware.
Response to cancellation
The cancellation of Warcraft Adventures was met with widespread disappointment from players, to a degree that Blizzard Entertainment did not anticipate. By that time, the company believed that the audience for adventure games had shrunk;
At the time, Jeff Green of Computer Gaming World wrote that Warcraft Adventures cancellation "hit [him] hard" and was his "Bummer of the Year". The magazine's Terry Coleman called it a sign that Blizzard had lost its independent status, and theorized that corporate pressure had played a role in the decision. This view was later echoed by Alex Cachinero-Gorman of Hardcore Gaming 101, who cited statements by Mike Morhaime as evidence that the cancellation was "as much a numbers game as anything about game quality", and that "the prospect of a lost investment did not motivate them to apply their characteristic rigor". Conversely, Steve Meretzky said in 2016 that the cancellation "made me sad at the time", but that Warcraft Adventures relatively low quality meant that Blizzard had taken the best route.
Around two months after Warcraft Adventures was canceled, a group of ten Blizzard employees quit the company to form a new studio. Among them was James Phinney, a key figure on StarCraft. According to Blizzard's Micky Neilson, several factors—including the scandal at Blizzard parent Cendant—caused this event. However, he noted that "for some the cancellation of Warcraft Adventures was the final straw." The deal was ultimately signed with Pocket Books. Early in the development process for the Warcraft book trilogy, Bill Roper hinted that Warcraft Adventures story could reappear in one of the novels. The book is considered canonical. She proceeded to write several other novels for Blizzard because of her enjoyment of this project, among them World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, the company's first New York Times Best Seller. Blizzard hired her to a full-time position at the company in 2017.
In August 1998, Roper confirmed that Blizzard planned to complete the animated cutscenes for Warcraft Adventures, as they could help Blizzard sell film and television studios on the idea of adapting the property. He remarked, "It's one thing to have a bunch of cool stills, and it's another thing to have a fifteen-minute short to show them." the Warcraft Adventures story proceeded to inspire much of the later Warcraft franchise. which the company confirmed a few months later. Its development was also the subject of a long "PC Gaming Graveyard" feature by GameSpot, The cancellation of Warcraft Adventures is often cited as an example of Blizzard's "willingness to cancel a game late in development to protect the quality of their brand", according to Cachinero-Gorman. alongside the Titan project canceled in 2014 after roughly seven years' development. Calling this trend the key to Blizzard's success in 2016, Kat Bailey of USgamer regarded Warcraft Adventures cancellation a wise choice for Blizzard's brand, as otherwise "it might still be an object of ridicule today."