Creating a new character in World of Warcraft takes commitment, so the tauren remain an appealing choice. The game moves beyond the familiar humans, orcs, elves and dwarves with a wonderfully unexpected idea: cow people.
That choice also leads through Mulgore, a broad grassland zone with more than a passing resemblance to the plains of Kansas. Both landscapes are home to a small animal that deserves far more attention: the prairie dog.
Before examining an old game model, browse RETROCADE’s arcade blog for more stories about memorable game design and unusual digital creatures.
This is a real prairie dog: a small North American rodent that lives in burrows across the plains.
Prairie dogs are charming, and they play an important role in their ecosystems as prey for numerous other species. Farmers generally do not appreciate them, but anyone fascinated by amusing little animals can understand their appeal.
World of Warcraft takes a very different approach. The original prairie dog model is not cute, polished or especially convincing. It may be one of the least attractive small creatures in the game.
That distant view is almost too generous. Prairie dogs are tiny and quick, making them difficult to capture clearly. Target one, however, and the game gives you a much closer look at its face.
The result is startling. Its head appears oddly pointed, its eyes look remarkably empty, and the entire creature seems to be asking how things went so wrong.
The rest of the model does not improve matters. It is hunched, angular and distinctly strange. can see it over at Wowhead for a closer look at this peculiar version.
And yet, that is exactly why the model is so memorable.
The prairie dog in WoW: Forever reflects the original game, when the animal looked like this. Blizzard later replaced it with a model that more closely resembles a genuinely cute prairie dog, and that newer version is used in the retail game.
Even after the visual update, many players continued to appreciate the old polygonal animal. WoW: Forever preserves that oddity, allowing players to visit Thunder Bluff and sneak around the entrance to Hunter’s Rise. A vendor named Halpa sells a prairie dog pet for 50 silver, which can then be summoned whenever desired.
That makes the creature more than an outdated model. It is a small piece of early World of Warcraft visual history: awkward, angular and impossible to mistake for anything else.
For readers interested in how game visuals translate into dedicated play spaces, RETROCADE also covers arcade videos, choosing an arcade machine and arcade parts and repairs.
Long may the humble prairie dog survive across the plains of North America, the grasslands of Mulgore and the deliberately rough edges of classic game worlds.
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