I previously speculated on if Ogres were a core race in Vanilla, how it could’ve played out, and since Ogres were confirmed to be considered for Cataclysm as a playable Horde race, I thought I would speculate some on that idea.
Before I begin, I want to again reintegrate that I am not sour that Goblins ended up playable. I’m happy they did become playable in general, and I have some Goblin characters I really like a lot. The only thing I really grumble about is that Ogres have allegedly been considered several times, only to get kicked to the curb each time and then forgotten.
I’ll also refer to the MU Stonemaul Clan as just the Stonemaul Clan. It’s easier to type, and the AU Stonemaul Clan wouldn’t be a thing yet, so there is no confusion. I’ll also assume that future expansions would be roughly the same, just with some story elements slightly changed.
Now for this version of Cataclysm, I’m going to go under the assumption that Worgen would’ve still been the Alliance race chosen, but without Goblins as a Horde race at this point, quite a bit would change. Gallywix may not have become a thing until either much later, or Gazlowe would lead a NPC faction of Goblins that could eventually become the playable Goblin race faction.
Assuming that the same expansions happened, some story elements might have changed slightly, but otherwise wouldn’t have too much of an impact. Maybe the Goblins would’ve joined during BfA as an allied race. Maybe Gallywix would’ve been a regular Goblin that rises through the ranks and gains power that way. Maybe Megs Dreadshredder is part of Gazlowe’s crew as an assistant, and will recruits the Dunemaul Clan into the Horde. Who knows? There is a lot to speculate with this, but I’m going to focus on the playable Horde Ogres for now.
Now for the playable Ogre faction, I see no reason why it wouldn’t be the Stonemaul Clan. They were already part of the Horde, and with Deathwing being the main baddie of Cataclysm, would’ve had a reason to have them get involved. In fact, it seems fitting to have them involved regardless, since they would have a vendetta against him and the evil members of the Black Dragonflight in general. Another missed opportunity in our timeline, sadly…
As for the racial leader, likely it would be Tharg. We sent Mok’Morokk packing in Vanilla, and it was hinted that Tharg would be voted in despite his age and injuries. We could say that he managed to get some medicine to help, or maybe he found a really nice hot spring to soak in with relaxing music or something, but he seems the best choice. Not to mention with his wife having been killed by dragonkin in the area and previously losing his home once before, he would fit well with the Stonemaul Clan storyline.
Now, since Worgen would’ve still had their own starting area, the question is: How would the Stonemaul Clan’s starting area have gone?
First, I see no reason why new Ogres would not have started off in Dustwallow Marsh. For our timeline, Deathwing’s actions had an effect on both the Worgen and Goblin starting areas, so Deathwing having an effect on Dustwallow adds more to the area since Onyxia and her minions and offspring are in the area.
My guess would be that starting Ogre newbies would start in the Stonemaul home, where you’d get quests to work on rebuilding your home, killing the local pests, maybe some skirmishes with Theramore and their spies also. However, I would see eventually Deathwing coming and causing chaos in the area, maybe in the middle of a battle with Theramore or maybe Onyxia’s minions. It could cause damage to the Stonemaul home again, and this time the dragonkin mount another savage attack on the area afterwards.
This causes the Stonemaul Clan to retreat back to Brackenwall Village, where maybe a siege could happen that you help defend against, leading to a bit of a stalemate in the area with the dragonkin mobs once again taking residence in the Stonemaul home. Eventually, you’d be sent to Orgrimmar to report what happened to Garrosh.
Not too happy with losing territory, Garrosh tasks the Stonemaul Clan to go out and do stuff for the Horde, calling in the debt the Stonemaul clan owes the Horde. Doing so will give them training, in which he’ll consider helping the Stonemaul Clan in Dustwallow after they help some. This line of thinking will give the Stonemaul Clan some resentment towards Garrosh, which will play out in Pandaria and give them a reason to side with the Horde when Garrosh goes mad with power. Not to mention that Garrosh likely isn’t fond of Ogres, so aside from wanting territory back, isn’t as concerned and likely thinks the dragonkin in the area would keep Theramore busy and weaken them, which would allow the Horde to attack whoever the victor of the area would be.
As such, the Stonemaul Clan have some things going for them that gives them a reason to go off adventuring:
The first is doing stuff for the Horde, since they have a bit of debt for them. Garrosh utilizing this in a not-so-respectful way just plays out for future events, and the Stonemaul Clan will get respect later on after Garrosh gets the boot. This also could explain the Stonemaul Clan being moved to Feralas to help out there in the meantime.
The second is getting their home back again. Whether it is destroyed or just taken over again, the Stonemaul Clan have a goal of eventually reclaiming their home yet again, this time hopefully for good.
The third is to kill Deathwing and any remaining evil members of the Black Dragonflight. There would still be members in Dustwallow, even with Onyxia dead, and even then, Deathwing is still a threat not just to the Stonemaul, but to the entire world. The Stonemaul would realize the Horde could also lose their home, and helping the Horde would be a way to both repay their debt and also get revenge.
I likely only scratched the surface of this line of thinking, and certainly it isn’t perfect, but this is generally what I think could’ve happened if we got Ogres in Cataclysm. As I said, assuming the expansions stayed the same, some story elements would’ve been different. I’m sure Goblins would’ve eventually become a playable race still, though the circumstances may have been different. I’d be surprised if we went through BfA without playable Goblins, and the Goblin megathread in that timeline having arguments of neutrality and stuff being a hot topic. But hey, our timeline has playable Horde Goblins, and that is a good thing.
Even if Dustwallow Marsh would’ve still be timelocked, where we get the Stonemaul home back but there is still dragonkin squatting in the area, at least we’d have playable Horde Ogres and there would be an assumption that they would get their home back eventually. Or maybe that would be an event at some point during the zone’s questing, and it would get reclaimed again. Not sure which is more likely here.
At any rate, it’s fun to speculate another timeline, but I still hope we’re in the timeline where playable Horde Ogres do eventually become a thing. We’ll see where the future takes us, but hopefully, we’ll see the MU Stonemaul Clan show up and help out the Horde again soon!
Dream big, Ogre fans! 
