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: Orcs &amp; Humans
The game was released in November 1994. Although reviews did not appear until months later, in "Dragon" Paul Murphy described the game as "great fun – absorbing and colorful," and Scott Love praised its solid strategy, simple interface and fantasy theme. "Warcraft: Orcs & Humans" won "PC Gamer"’s Editors' Choice Award, "Computer Life"’s Critics' Pick and the Innovations Award at the Consumer Electronics Show, Winter 1995. It was a finalist for "Computer Gaming World"’s Premier award, "PC Gamer"’s Strategy Game of the Year and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Best Strategy award. In 1996, "Computer Gaming World" declared "Warcraft" the 125th-best computer game ever released.