Warcraft Adventures

The Orcs of Warcraft II and why this game had to be an adventure

GameSpot: So you wanted to delve more into the orcs of the Warcraft universe?

Bill Roper: Yeah, even though elves and dwarves and trolls and ogres and undead and orcs are very familiar fantasy-type creatures, I think that we've taken some very different looks at them. Our orcs are definitely nothing like orcs in other universes. And one of the things that we really wanted to do with the Adventure game was to show exactly how different they are, bring some of that personage and personality out and really put it in the face of people. We did this so people could get a real feeling as to how deep the culture is. They are a very noble race in their own way, very expansionist and very military. They are certainly not just the mindless grunts that get thrown at your characters. I'm very honored when people compare the Warcraft universe to the Tolkien universe in certain ways. But I think that even in the Tolkien universe the orcs are pretty much mindless minions. But in Warcraft, the orcs have an entire culture built up. It's very unique and very structured. I think that one of the things that we were really pushing for with Warcraft Adventures was to give players a look into that and into what makes the orcs tick.

GameSpot: Why tell this story in an adventure game rather than an action game or other genre?

Bill Roper: I can't speak for everybody, but a large group of us really love adventure games and have a desire to do an adventure game. And also I think that the adventure game is still the single best way to tell a story. I think that what an adventure game is, is going to start changing, if it hasn't already. I think that one of the big problems with Warcraft Adventures was that we were actually creating a traditional adventure game, and what people expected from an adventure game, and very honestly what we expected from an adventure game, changed over the course of the project. And when we got to the point where we canceled it, it was just because we looked at where we were and said, you know, this would have been great three years ago. But we have to go someplace new and someplace different. And we just didn't set ourselves up to do that. But the adventure genre is still an exciting place to tell stories in. And I think that the big trick is going to be to find new ways to do it that are going to get people interested in buying adventure games again.

GameSpot: So is the story that was written for Warcraft Adventures considered an official part of the universe?

Bill Roper: Definitely.

GameSpot: And will that story from Warcraft Adventures set the stage for the next game?

Bill Roper: It depends. Certainly we consider that to be an official part of the world history. Whatever portion of that does or doesn't get into any future Warcraft titles that we may do is hard to say. At the very least I think that it would be referenced in a way.

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