There's fourteen ways to skin a dwarf

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Orc campfire song (6:40):

There's fourteen ways to skin a dwarf
Skin a dwarf, skin a dwarf
Fourteen ways to skin a dwarf
And here is number seven

Wrap his beard around a plank
Give that plank a mighty yank
Peel him right down to his shank
And now there's seven more...

And then there's even more!

Howdy. Back in 1998 or so Blizzard advertised for an upcoming title, Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, produced via companionship with a Russian company. Straggling schedules and the end of the click-game era made Blizzard cancel the game before release, a bit like Starcraft: Ghost.

I and my brother recently stumbled across a series of eleven play-through videos featuring the game, whilst having a hobby workshop. The Youtube video series is obviously not complete for whatever reason, but we were still surprised by the quality of the game and really enjoyed viewing it.

The creativity and attention to detail and previous strategy titles is obvious, and in it are some first appearances for things which later appeared in World of Warcraft, such as homing chickens or gnomish architecture. It's very much a Blizzard game, and it's a small shame it isn't available in any form considering the work's results.

It's worth to check out Lord of the Clans for anyone who likes Blizzard's Warcraft (especially pre-WCIII) or just fantasy with orcs, goblins and dwarfs in general.

Do yourself a favour when you've got the time. Load a drink and some snacks, and discover this lost title in a series of best-selling fantasy games.

If you like the look, feel free to comment about it and leave a request for further videos or even torrents for the game from the uploader, who got it from the Russian company.

[zoggin-eck]

I've always found this game interesting. As cool as it would have been, I can understand how outdated they thought it would look if released. I wonder if they'd ever release it as an extra/download/tablet version?

Incredibly, I remember how dated I thought the 2D cutscenes in the "Myth" games (Fallen lords and Soulblighter) looked after the flashy 3D animation in Warcraft 2. Looking back, the Warcraft 2 ones are unteachable while the Myth ones are great!

[Karak Norn Clansman]

I wonder if they'd ever release it as an extra/download/tablet version?

Having seen the game now I wonder the very same thing. I sure hope so. Is there any Blizzard E-mail address to turn to with a quick mail about it? If enough people mail them to build up demand for such a small, downloadable bonus feature as the latest Lord of the Clans beta version, it might actually get "released" though naturally not finished.

[Tulkas]

Wow, that looks like alot of fun. Reminds me of Monkey Island. Can you still find the torrent for the game itself Karak Norn Clansman?

[Karak Norn Clansman]

A lot of fun indeed.

Unfortunately it seem the Russian man who received the beta of the unreleased game from the studio in S:t Petersberg got it on a promise not to make it available for download. This is one of few occassions when I want to damn someone for being honest.

It seem, however, we have some alpha version with limited or no audio if we trawl the web. I haven't tested it.

[Bladelord]

Related thread.

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Apparently Blizzard had cooked up some more songs along similar lines! Check them out here.

[Arnizipal]

Good stuff
With retro gaming being popular these days, maybe Blizzard will give the game another chance?

[Ultimate Life Form]

Blizzard sucks. That's all I have to say on the topic. They don't grasp the concept of retrogaming beyond remastering some of their 20+ year old games. All they're interested in these days are Chinese mobile games with microtransactions and barely legal child gambling.

[Arnizipal]

Is that a disgruntled Diablo fan I see?

[Ultimate Life Form]

A disgruntled Diablo fan and Warcraft fan and Starcraft fan, though I guess "fan" is a bit of a stretch at this point. Pretty much everything they touch turns into complete crap. It's like they have a black thumb or something. But what do you expect? Their best developers are busy working on mobile games after all.