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General: Let There Be ORCS

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Orcs seem to infest every RPG, or at least every fantasy RPG, that we play. In today's List, we take a look at the worst of the worst in Orc-land. Read on and see what you think!

Orcs have gotten a bad rap from day one. Back in Tolkien they were the mindless bad guys for Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to kill. Were they ever a threat to the races of Middle Earth really? If anything the Elves were the real villains in that story: more on that later. As our green friends progressed they grew a bit cooler. Sadly, Dungeons & Dragons did them no justice by making them pig faced and cowardly. However, Warhammer took the British Football Hooligan to perfection and created some of the best Orcs in any game. Warcraft gave the Orcs their noble savage lineage and made them equals in the eyes of fans. So for all of you today I want to run down the Top Five Orcs in RPG history.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's The List: Let There Be Orcs!

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Comments

  • DauzqulDauzqul Member RarePosts: 1,982

    I don't mind orcs or any other race that has been used countless times, e.g., dwarves, elves, goblins, gnomes, etc. What I mind is re-hashed gameplay. I've done the hand-holding with EQ2 & WoW. I just can't do the same type of game again.

  • DarkPonyDarkPony Member Posts: 5,566

    Nice write up. Apart from the spelling of "Tolkien" in the second sentence or was that on turtoise?

    I can only echo the coolness of greenskins in WAR: really loved my Goblin shaman; its looks, sounds, mount and animations were all top notch.

    Too bad Warhammer 40k won't be there to add to the orc legacy in mmorpg land.

     

  • FrostWyrmFrostWyrm Member Posts: 1,036

    No honorable mention of Final Fantasy XI orcs for using a totally different design than everyone else's typical green skinned or pig-like orcs with tusks?

  • orbitxoorbitxo Member RarePosts: 1,956

    warhammer orcs win hands down- black orc coming this friday new hero in Wrath of Heroes!!!!!!

     

    WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • kishekishe Member UncommonPosts: 2,012

    I've had the priviledge to be part of "Shadowclan Orcs" the first and the biggest MMO roleplaying community from 1999 in UO and I approve of this message!

     

     

  • ComfyChairComfyChair Member Posts: 758

    I think a special mention should be made to arenanet for not having orcs or elves in their lore for the guild wars series :p

  • punkrockpunkrock Member Posts: 1,777
  • barezzbarezz Member UncommonPosts: 147

    How exactly would being able to play a Orc work in LOTRO?  They going to be able to do the story quests?  Go to Rivendale and chat with Elrond?  Pop into the Shire for a pint at the Green Dragon Inn?  The game's content is set up for the "good guys", and orcs are most certainly not part of that group in LOTRO.  It would be such a massive undertaking to develop "Orc lands" where orc players could quest, I would would rather see that effort put into places like Rohan or Gondor personally.

  • someforumguysomeforumguy Member RarePosts: 4,088

    I only like Warhammer greenskins and LOTRO movie/book Orcs. These show gritty evil bastards as opposed to the cuddly cute grunting green teddybears like in most other games.

    The Orcs in Elder scrolls and Vanguard look cool but are too humanlike imo.

    WoW greenskins (both Orc and Goblin) are Disney approved versions of greenskins. Silly cuddly orcs ftl. The evil races don't look evil in that game.

  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591

    I'm sorry but I'm glad orcs aren't playable in Lord of the Rings Online. That would destroy the lore and what Lord of the Rings is even about. Orcs in the Lord of the Rings are the bad guys. I wouldn't have it any other way.

    Smile

  • RednecksithRednecksith Member Posts: 1,238

    Warcraft orcs don't even deserve to be on this list. Sure, they started out just great, but then Blizzard pulled this whole 'oh, they're actually a deep, shamanistic race of people who are only bloodthirsty because of demonic corruption!' bullshit out of their collective asses, and WHAM! Sissified, Disney-esque versions of orcs.

    Warhammer orcs would eat them, and every other race on Azeroth for breakfast.

    'ERE WE GO! WAAAAAGH!

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441

    Originally posted by Razeekster

    I'm sorry but I'm glad orcs aren't playable in Lord of the Rings Online. That would destroy the lore and what Lord of the Rings is even about. Orcs in the Lord of the Rings are the bad guys. I wouldn't have it any other way.

    The way LOTRO is made, yes.

    For you to be able to play orcs they would have to let people play the "other" side as well. That would be a hugerevamp of the game.¨

    Besides, "red is faster"...

  • TruthXHurtsTruthXHurts Member UncommonPosts: 1,555

    My Darkfall Ork is not amused.

    "I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"

  • KonfessKonfess Member RarePosts: 1,667

    I always wondered if Klingons counted as a race of Orc?  I thought they did.

    Pardon any spelling errors
    Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven
    Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
    Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
    As if it could exist, without being payed for.
    F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
    Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
    It costs money to play.  Therefore P2W.

  • TruthXHurtsTruthXHurts Member UncommonPosts: 1,555

    Originally posted by Konfess

    I always wondered if Klingons counted as a race of Orc?  I thought they did.

    I'll agree with you there. They are clearly space orcs.

    "I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"

  • faxnadufaxnadu Member UncommonPosts: 940

    Originally posted by Loke666

    Originally posted by Razeekster

    I'm sorry but I'm glad orcs aren't playable in Lord of the Rings Online. That would destroy the lore and what Lord of the Rings is even about. Orcs in the Lord of the Rings are the bad guys. I wouldn't have it any other way.

    The way LOTRO is made, yes.

    For you to be able to play orcs they would have to let people play the "other" side as well. That would be a hugerevamp of the game.¨

    Besides, "red is faster"...

    im glad someone agrees with me atleast, back in the days when lotro cmae i oviously as huge fan ordered it and was excited about playing it didint read much about how it plays just wanted to login and see myself and whne ORCS or any evil side characters wasnt playable like for example HORDE vs ALLIANCE style i was gutted.

    so yet again we set up playing against ai army . wheres the fun in that.

     

    as Loke says huge revamp it would been huge success to the wholegame.

  • faxnadufaxnadu Member UncommonPosts: 940

    Originally posted by Razeekster

    I'm sorry but I'm glad orcs aren't playable in Lord of the Rings Online. That would destroy the lore and what Lord of the Rings is even about. Orcs in the Lord of the Rings are the bad guys. I wouldn't have it any other way.

    and you simply are lost, orcs can be bad guys yeah but controlled and leveled same way as free people characters controlled by human player things would been totally different.

  • spookydomspookydom Member UncommonPosts: 1,782

    "I come from the Orcs. We eat with spoons and forks. We love to eat our pork!"

  • KonfessKonfess Member RarePosts: 1,667

    Warhammer Orcs spring forth from mushrooms does not sever their ties to Elves.  Elves are often associated with mushrooms, probably not in the Warhammer world.  I have always been a fan of the idea that Orcs are corrupted, mutated, or abused Elves.  If a games customization alowded it, I always make an Orc with Elvan traits, skin color, hair, and less tusk.

    Pardon any spelling errors
    Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven
    Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
    Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
    As if it could exist, without being payed for.
    F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
    Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
    It costs money to play.  Therefore P2W.

  • maplestonemaplestone Member UncommonPosts: 3,099

    In my own pencil and paper games, I have often struggled with what to do with orcs.  Over the years, I gave them a detailed backstory and a cultural arc that eventually led to them becoming passive and submissive (an over-compensation of a culture straining to keep its instinctive aggression in check).  The problem was that new players come in with a mass of expectations of what an "orc" should be.  I ended up having to decide between renaming them or having a cultural collapse storyline that returned them to a more traditional behaviour.

    (I mention my story, because I think many MMO publishers with orcs face a similar struggle as their lore evolves and their orcs of their IP drift further and further away from the original source material)

  • KellerKeller Member UncommonPosts: 602

    No Orcs from Darkfall?

  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,739

          Sorry but LoTRO should not be on the list...They had the ultimate fail by not allowing players to be orcs in the real game...That game could have been epic if they had but instead we got 4 races (only 2 of them fun at all) and the fun wore out quickly......Even the EQ orcs were more deserving.

  • garrettgarrett MMORPG.COM Staff UncommonPosts: 284

    For all you Orc fans, these guys are serious!

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USn0O2DmWn4

     :p 
  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722

    i rarely play orcs in any fantasy mmo, but i like the orcs from Skyrim, War, and WoW.

    I wish Skyrim's orcs looked less humanoids. I wish you were able to play a big orc in WoW (like Korm Bonegrind). I also wish WAR's orcs were more serious.





  • Eir_SEir_S Member UncommonPosts: 4,440

    War'ammer Orkz is da best.  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!

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