Kaplan sucks. Listening to him talk puts me to sleep. *SNORE*

Not really. He made it enough to be different. Orcs that are actually complex instead of one-dimensional and evil? Elves that are as far from the normal fantasy elves as possible?

Blue sci-fi space-goats mixing along with traditional fantasy themes?

Though much of WoW's content is fairly original, I'm still inclined to agree with you, Tim. Much of the fantasy genre these days is largely derivative.

I have to agree - this stuff has been around for years upon years. Nothing new here.

I agree - it would be like talking to the chef who made the best version of a chocolate cake currently on the market. He didn't "dream up" eggs, flour, or even cake. But, Blizzard has done a fine job of making a tasty treat out of common elements.

Originally, Warcraft was to be a Warhammer game, but the licensing fell through.

Please read the interview before you flame the OP . . . Metzen credits his influences and just seems really passionate about this stuff. It was interesting to see how his impetus was not what people tend to assume/flame about (Tolkien), but rather D&D, comic books and Star Wars. Great read.

Saying that there is nothing new here is similar to saying that nothing anyone ever says is original. As the great George Carlin points out, there is no such thing as "in your own words;" we all use the same words as everyone else.

He took pre-existing fantasy elements and created a story and a world to give them a new life.

What, nobody has done the appropriate Penny Arcade Strip?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/4/10/

(read the news post behind the strip if you don't get it)

What I came to post.

now that you mention it.. God created man in the likeness of himself. where's the originality in that?

Still always amazed at some of the comments that get vote down. Warcraft was going to be a warhammer game originally. Why would you vote that down?

Warhammer.

End topic.

Most of the stuff in WoW can be traced way back to Norse mythology, Greek mythology, Hindu mythology, etc. etc..

Pretty much everything in the sci-fi and fantasy genres are derivative of their predecessors.

My wife still wants to have her troll defect from the Horde to join Zul-jin in slaughtering the Blood Elves. Heh.

Read The Hobbit.

You might want to take a good look at the silmarilion and Eöl the dark elf in particular. Evil elves was nothing new for Tolkien.
Feanor himself, even though being manipulated by Melkor, is quite evil in his own right.