World of Warcraft
"World of Warcraft" was first announced by Blizzard at the ECTS trade show in September 2001. Released in 2004, development of the game took roughly 4–5 years, including extensive testing. The 3D graphics in "World of Warcraft" use elements of the proprietary graphics engine originally used in "Warcraft III". The game was designed to be an open environment where players are allowed to do what they please. Quests are optional and were designed to help guide players, allow character development, and to spread characters across different zones to try to avoid what developers called "player collision". The game interface allows players to customize appearance and controls, and to install add-ons and other modifications.
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans
After his week at Blizzard's main office, Meretzky returned to Massachusetts and finished the job remotely. His time on "Warcraft Adventures" ultimately totaled around two weeks. Soon after his visit, Wooley reported that Blizzard had enjoyed its work with him and might hire him again. Roper later echoed this praise for Meretzky's contributions, which he said left the game with "a much, much stronger series of puzzles that tied in much better to the storyline." Meretzky also signed Roper's copy of "Superhero League of Hoboken" during the period. In 2016, Meretzky stated that even the planned revisions to "Warcraft Adventures" would have resulted in an average adventure game. However, he enjoyed the title's story and voice acting, and its core idea of rendering the "Warcraft" universe in finer and more intimate detail. Despite Meretzky's redesign, Blizzard did not initially project a delay for the game, which remained set for a summer 1998 launch.