World of Warcraft (2004, known as “vanilla WoW”, re-released in 2019 as WoW: Classic) is the fourth installment of the Warcraft series and the first to switch from its real time strategy format to the MMORPG genre. Contrary to subsequent expansions’ more-coherent storytelling styles, WoW set players off in a narratively loose world that didn’t see them taking the heroic role of the lead character, at least not until they reached the end game. It only featured the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor continents. The final bosses include black dragons, firelord Ragnaros and old god C’thun.
