There aren't many gamers around who still remember the original Warcraft series, so they would have never expected that World of Warcraft originally looked like this, going from a simple Warcraft III mod to the game we know today.
Considering that World of Warcraft didn't launch until the early 2000's the idea of a screenshot from 1999 will be a head trip for fans. It's too bad that none of the artwork we see here still exists in the game today for gamers to visit.
Compared to screenshots that you can snag today or selfies taken with World of Warcraft's new in-game camera, this original in-game capture looks ancient. In a lot of ways, it's hard to think this came from the game we know today.
Long time World of Warcraft players will get quite a nostalgic feeling at the sight of the original character select screen. Newer players will probably be shocked at the idea of only 6 playable races.
After the visual update that World of Warcraft character models received in the Warlords of Draenor update, these early troll models are hard to recognize. Screenshots like these go to show how far the MMO has come over the years.
Gamers who are playing the current expansion of World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor, will probably be amazed by the difference in the character models. Blizzard has taken the game's races to impressive heights. They barely resemble these original models today.
So many World of Warcraft fans would have given anything to be a part of this first test run. The original test of Blackwing Lair was a big step in getting WoW off the ground.
Molten Core is the perfect example of what game developers are capable of when they're put to the test. If Scott Mercer and Jeffrey Kaplan hadn't been able to create it within a week, World of Warcraft might have met with a very different reaction at launch.
This might not have been the final model for Onyxia but she's every bit as intimidating in this form as the final one. It's hard not to wish you could have been there to see Roman Kenney and Geoff Goodman put the final touches on this boss.
Onyxia may not look like much to modern World of Warcraft players, but when the game originally launched, she was every bit as scary as the Lych King would be down the road. Onyxia also represents all of the future raid bosses players love and hate today.
It's hard to imagine that such a small team was able to launch one of the most successful MMOs ever created. It would be tough for gamers today who are used to AAA titles with teams of hundreds to wrap their heads around a dev team this size.
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