A collection of all -known- cut/delayed content in Warlords of Draenor

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

Warlords of Draenor: The expansion that could have been.

"Noooo, It cannot end like this...! What I...What I have seen...! Noo.... NOOOOOOOO! This world is my ...destiny... My....destiny.."

- Garrosh Hellscream, Siege of Orgrimmar


I'd thought with WoD officially out of development I would make a collection of all rounded up cut/delayed content in WoD for people to see.

They're mostly videos and a few pictures so dig in and enjoy.
Note, that I count "lore" as content.

Shift + F3 for quick navigation.
1. The scrapped interior of Karabor
2. The Chronal Spire, Tanaan and Farahlon
3. Fungal Whale World Boss
4. Shattrath Raid
5. Zangermarsh Zone
6. Unfinished Battlegrounds/Arenas
7. All cut Garrison content [From what we KNOW]
8. Bladespire Citadel
9. Ages of War Await
10. Early Gorgrond
11. Blood Elf Models.
12. Yrel's Dark Secret
13. Feral Worgen storyline in Shadowmoon Valley.
14. Maraad & Yrel relationship and more
15. Flying
16. Tabard Tab
17. Ogre Island and Unnamed Large Southern Continent
18. Medivh Cameo
19. Gorehowl Legendary Weapon
20. Grommash Hellscream End Boss
21. Broken Horn Village
22. Unused Hairstyles
23. Kargath Survives
24. Ancient Rylaks
25. Orgrim Doomhammer Plot
26. Trial of the Gladiator and Class Accessories


1.

The scrapped interior of Karabor

Karabor was once supposed to be the Alliance capital city until during the summer it was announced that Stormshield would replace it as the main hub for players. The change caused major backlash on the official forums and many other fansites. It is assumed about nearly one hundred -thousand- threads were created if all counted up. Ultimately, despite the backlash it was not changed and Karabor remains closed to this day. It is unknown if it will at some point be completed.

The completed interior was supposed to look like this

While its interior wasn't finished its theme song was and is barely heard in the game outside of the temple and very very few parts of Shadowmoon Valley.







2. The Chronal Spire, Pieces of unfinished Farahlon and Early Tanaan Jungle

In the very early development stage of WoD, Farahlon was planned to be a zone at some point in the expansion, Tanaan however was planned to be released at release and was well designed with Bleeding Hollow themes and Everbloom as well. Speculation points that this area would focus on Kilrogg's clan, the Bleeding Hollow, The flowerpicker clan who we would stop from joining the Iron Horde and destroying their naval base in the process. The Chronal Spire was originally planned to be the main entrance to getting to the area but was scrapped for the Dark Portal.
Below is a picture of uncorrupted Tanaan.

Tanaan was intended in early development to be a zone at launch and then during Summer 2014, it was changed that it will be released in a patch. https://twitter.com/CM_Lore/status/492417961466949633

3.

The Fungal Whale World Boss

The Fungal Whale in the early stages of WoD was planned to be a raid boss in WoD. It is unknown -where- the beast would be located but it is speculated that it was to be swimming around Nagrand, "Zangermarsh" and Tanaan Jungle.

4.

Shattrath Raid
In the very early stages of development, Shattrath was planned to be a raid. It is unknown what it was removed for since Blackrock Foundry and Highmaul at the same time were confirmed to be raids at the time as well.

Shattrath in game as of now is only used in a Garrison Campaign quest, the Talador end quest and Appexis crystal dailies. It is now a faint illusion of what could of been.

5.

Zangermarsh Zone
Zangermarsh was once in the early stages of development, planned to be a mini-zone in the expansion. If you go in now, you'll see the bones of the unfinished zone and that it even had its own soundtrack. Speculations points that most likely that it was going be a garrison campaign zone or expanded in a future patch during the expansion's life cycle. Zangermarsh is the zone where the Draenei escaped to after the Orcs committed genocide upon their race. They also began to practice Shamanism here after some were cut off from the light, including the famous Nobundo. We would've most likely saw the first Draenei shamans here and Nobundo of this timeline would've been choked with lore.
This is some art of the zone below.

6.

Unfinished WoD battlegrounds
WoD in its early stages was planned to have a few battlegrounds and arenas before being scrapped entirely for nothing at all. Ashran would be the main focus for PvP.

7.

All cut Garrison content
In the early stages of development, we would've been able to choose if our Garrison was to be in -any- of the Draenor zones at launch. They were then dumbed down to Frostfire for the Horde and Shadowmoon for the Alliance only. There is more cut content to type here but I'll let you hear it from the developers themselves at Blizzcon'13 and a few other videos.

8.

Bladespire Citadel the Horde hub
If you go to Bladespire Citadel today, you will see it empty but its interior nearly complete. It is void of a few NPCs but you will find at least -2- Innkeepers inside and a few vendors. It was planned to be the Horde's main hub in WoD and was scrapped for Warspear.

9.

Ages of War Await
While this isn't nessescarily content in itself but it listed all the of the content currently planned at that date. You will see "new battlegrounds" & "new normal and heroic scenarios" listed.

10.

Early Gorgrond
While Gorgrond is complete, it still has cut content. The Grimrail in early development was planned for quick navigation throughout the zones. It was speculated through questing, you'll unphase to the captured Grimrail and use it as a "trailway" throughout the zones like the Deeprun Tram in Azeroth.

11.

Blood Elf Models.

Blood Elf models were added in 6.1 but count as "delayed" content. Originally they were to be shipped at release and were delayed due to "apparent time restraints".https://twitter.com/artofcgrobinson/...16925968666626

12.

Yrel's Dark Secret
It is unknown whether this is cut content but since the expansion is over we can count it as "delayed". If you read Yrel's biography it is implied that she has a dark secret about her that Velen knows. It was speculated that she was Archimonde's daughter but there is nothing to back this claim.

There is also a theme song labeled as "Yrel" in the collector's edition but in game it is labeled as "World Expo"

13.

Feral Worgen storyline in Shadowmoon Valley.
In the early development of WoD, in lore it was stated that Genn Greymane and other Worgen were sick and dying succumbing to a feral state and needed a plant that existed on Outlands to cure them. Unforunately, it doesn't grow there anymore but apparently on Draenor, it still should since it "returned". Tess Greymane was originally going to be one of the main characters in WoD but this was scrapped for Fiona's storyline to get a plant to heal her sick Dwarf friend.
Here is the quest in reference:
http://www.wowdb.com/quests/33840-th...-of-the-worgen

14.

Maraad & Yrel relationship and more

In the early stages of development, Maraad was set to be Yrel's boyfriend. Maraad and Yrel were apparently in a relationship in the MU until she was defiled and killed by Orc in the genocide. This would have made Maraad survive the encounter in Talador. Unforunately, this was scrapped for his death in Talador.

Here are the strings for some of the dialogue.

15.

Flying

While flying was added in 6.2.2, it was one of the largest uproars along side the Karabor/Bladespire change but lasted far far longer. It was most likely the largest complaint on the forums in the history of the game. It is unknown how many threads were created because there were many many duplicates created and removed in less than three minutes. It counts as delayed content.


16.

Tabard Tab

In the early stages of WoD, there would be a Tabard Tab to help clear bag space. Unforunately it was scrapped and is unknown when it will be added.

17.

Ogre Island and Unnamed Large Southern Continent
In the early stages of WoD, there was going to be three continents presumed to be released throughout the cycle, Farahlon, the unnamed Ogre island and a large continent at the south. As of today, all three are removed from the map.

18.

Medivh Cameo

In the early stages of WoD, Medivh made a cameo in the "fel Gul'dan" mini-stories at lvl 94. He appears and while being spotted, he disappears in a plume of black smoke shortly after. Most likely he would've been the final boss in WoD if they planned to save Grommash again.

19.

Gorehowl Legendary Weapon
In the early stages of WoD, Gorehowl had a new model yet again and was labeled as a Legendary Weapon. It is unknown how this weapon would've been obtained but it is speculated dropping from the Grommash Hellscream end game boss.

20.

Grommash Hellscream End Boss
In the early stages until 6.1, it was decided that Grommash Hellscream would be the end game boss in WoD. This was then later changed to Archimonde at the last minute. This also caused significant disapproving responses from the community as the reason for Grommash living was very awkward and horribly written as redeemed as well.

21.

Broken Horn Village
In Gorgrond, you will find a Laughing Skull Clan large area, presumed to be their village. It serves no use but the NPCs there are hostile to the Alliance and friendly to Horde players. This may have intended to been an area for dailies at Lv100

22.

Unused Hairstyles
Here we have a few new unused hairstyles. It is unknown whether Blizzard planned to release them at some point in the expansion so we shall count it as delayed/unreleased content.

23.

Kargath Survives [Lore]

In the beta of WoD, Kargath was set to survive. In the later builds Kargath was then decided to die in the raid instead. At the 6:35 mark of FatBoss Highmaul you will see his hand decapitated and him kneeling in defeat before fleeing away with a hand gushing of red blood.

24.

Ancient Rylaks

At some point in development, ancient rylaks were supposed to be added in the game.

- Thanks to MarilynMaelstrom for the pics!


25.

Orgrim Doomhammer plot
Orgrim was heavily involved in Gorgrond storyline during the development stage, but it was scrapped and reworked during alpha testing.

-Thanks to WoWpedia for the information!

26. -

Trial of the Gladiator & Character Accessories is a scrapped PVP feature:


http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Trial_of_the_Gladiator
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/...Spectator-Mode
scrapping announcement: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Spectator-Mode
video: https://youtu.be/gbijRPnASkU?t=1h28m29s

-Also, the Adventurer's guide (although a similar feature was included to the Dungeon Journal in 6.2, many months after release):



Video: https://youtu.be/gbijRPnASkU?t=1h2m35s

-And don't forget about the Class Accesories:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/141...ries-5-20-2014


-Regarding new hairstyles, i found the source:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/...f-Warcraft-Q-A

"New hairstyles are coming with the new character models."

Although many character models have new hairstyles since 4.2, they are not activated in-game. Blizzard planned to add them in Wod but they didn't do it.

- Thanks to Marilyn Maelstorm for #26!

Warlords of Draenor
November 13th, 2014 - Spring/Summer 2016


Have anything I missed? PM me or put it down in the comments.

Updated: 10/4/2015
- Added Broken Horn Village. Deleted the large Grommash picture.
- Added Unreleased/Delayed Hairstyles

[Schmilblick]

Nice job

[Herecius]

Please folks, always try and remember that the cutting floor of any huge project - be it a big game, or a big movie - is almost always larger than the finished product.

[WintersLegion]

Blood Elves were never meant to be in at the beginning the plan was as many of the original Vanilla races as they could get down and they would work on the rest as they could. They than decided to make sure Draenei were done in time for release because they were such a major part of the story. With Blood Elves it was always if we have time.

[Fang7986]

only difference between WoD and vanilla and every other Xpac is that this time Blizz tried to be open and actually told us everything they WANTED to do and the player base took it all as a promise of what they would do. WoW has always had a massive amount of features cut the only difference with WoD was that Blizzard actually talked about it

[Socialhealer]

it's always been like this for blizzard, but WoD went too far with cutting content and rushing the product out because SoO had been out for too long.

the end result is 50% of the playerbase has quit due to the lack of content, and the poor quality of the very limited end game content, also i think a 3rd factor is they have given up on WoD and left it as the stale unfinished product it is to pour all their effort into making legion, and getting all the content into legion, rather than scrapping tons of it like they did with WoD because they ran out of time, i believe if blizzard could of released WoD when they we're finished with it rather than pushing it out because everyone was bored of MoP and we we're due the next xpac, i think SoO would of been over 2 years long, blizzard need to learn to create quality content faster, they have all the ideas, all the content the problem is they don't have the time.

[Saft]

How many care? I bet they'll cut just as many things throughout Legion except we'll not know of it, considering what you count as "cut content". Whatever will you do then?

Karabor and Bladespire as capitals horse has already decomposed and returned to the earth, I'm thoroughly sick of it.

[Deleted]

Please folks, always try and remember that the cutting floor of any huge project - be it a big game, or a big movie - is almost always larger than the finished product.

then don't announce what you can't deliver

if you do it's considered lying and scamming

but of course poor Blizzard totally didn't know that they'd have to cut half of the expansion's content at Blizzcon just yet!

[Herecius]

then don't announce what you can't deliver

if you do it's considered lying and scamming

but of course poor Blizzard totally didn't know that they'd have to cut half of the expansion's content at Blizzcon just yet!

One, it's not a scam for Blizzard to announce a whole bunch of things they want to do, and Blizzard has always emphasized that the things they announce are never the final version until it all actually goes live.

Two, shithead responses like this are the reason most companies don't bother to communicate fuck all to their players.

Whether or not the final version is something you like is entirely irrelevant.

[dejaa]

Please folks, always try and remember that the cutting floor of any huge project - be it a big game, or a big movie - is almost always larger than the finished product.

I wouldn't call WoD a "big game".

No one would be pissed off about cut content if the expansion itself contained substantial content. It didn't.

[Deztru]

How many care? I bet they'll cut just as many things throughout Legion except we'll not know of it, considering what you count as "cut content". Whatever will you do then?

Karabor and Bladespire as capitals horse has already decomposed and returned to the earth, I'm thoroughly sick of it.

It mostly caused an outrage because they revealed so much of the project in work. I'm sure they've cut just as much stuff in previous expansions but we've never know about any.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't call WoD a "big game".

Well, it is.

[Jester Joe]

Regardless of what you think either way, it is still interesting to see what could of been.

I hope this thread doesn't get locked honestly, I would enjoy seeing other things that might of been missed.

[Stormspark]

only difference between WoD and vanilla and every other Xpac is that this time Blizz tried to be open and actually told us everything they WANTED to do and the player base took it all as a promise of what they would do. WoW has always had a massive amount of features cut the only difference with WoD was that Blizzard actually talked about it

No, they didn't. They USED THIS INFORMATION AT BLIZZCON 2013 TO SELL PREORDERS. They used it as hype to sell their product. That goes beyond telling us what they wanted to do. No expansion has ever had the amount cut that WOD did. Not even close. Yes, Wrath had Azjol-Nerub cut and turned into 2 dungeons, but Wrath still has a massive amount of content. Meanwhile WOD has 1/3 the endgame content of Cataclysm. And also they lied about everything that was cut until the last minute, and instead of announcing cuts on their site at the time the decisions were made, they waited and tried to sneak announcements out on Twitter and on obscure sites, and they would always do these on a Friday before a long weekend. They didn't even have enough respect for the players to make the announcements on their own website.

WOD was a more expensive expansion with 1/3 of the content of Cataclysm. And it had 1 content patch. 1 freaking content patch. Even Cataclysm had 3. But it's not just the cut content. It's also the way they handled it. If they had communicated with the players and treated them with respect, perhaps more could've been forgiven. But no, they handled it in a very arrogant way with NO respect for the players at all. They outright lied in interviews. And then they had the gall to blame the players for not knowing how to have fun. Blizzard has lost me as a customer. I have taken my money elsewhere (I did 6 months ago actually). And I have no intention of ever returning unless there are huge apologies and concessions made to the players that they scammed with this sham of an expansion.

[Herecius]

It mostly caused an outrage because they revealed so much of the project in work. I'm sure they've cut just as much stuff in previous expansions but we've never know about any.

They definitely do. Entire zones, whole raids, it all ends up on the cutting floor. When Blizzard doesn't talk about it, occasionally we get to see it anyways when people manage to datamine partially completed things in the files, such as what recently happened with the variety of alternate Alliance garrisons that Blizzard evidently explored.

[Deleted]

And also they lied about everything that was cut until the last minute, and instead of announcing cuts on their site at the time the decisions were made, they waited and tried to sneak announcements out on Twitter and on obscure sites, and they would always do these on a Friday before a long weekend.

Could you list a few examples of this? I liked draenor on launch so I didn't really watch the forums or twitter etc

[Tya]

People need to learn the difference between cut content and content that wasn't good enough for release.

[Socialhealer]

People need to learn the difference between cut content and content that wasn't good enough for release.

twitter and selfie cam made it.

any old shit was good enough for WoD.

[Deleted]

I don't play currently. Can someone tell me if Tanaan actually looks like the jungle concept art at no. 2?

[spinner981]

Please folks, always try and remember that the cutting floor of any huge project - be it a big game, or a big movie - is almost always larger than the finished product.

Spoken like a true blizzard dev trying to justify the pitiful xpac that WoD was.