Azeroth

Azeroth is a fictional planet that is the primary setting of the Warcraft franchise of fantasy video games, books and other media. While introduced as an overarching setting in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, its physical presence was more heavily developed in the 2004 MMORPG spin-off, World of Warcraft, which introduced players to microcosms of numerous locations on the planet. Azeroth is a terrestrial planet populated by numerous intelligent races, both humanoid and non-humanoid, of varying origins. In Warcraft's fictional mythos, Azeroth was initially created by godlike cosmic beings known as Titans, who also formed some of Azeroth's races in the ensuing eons, such as humans and dwarves, while other races, like the tauren and trolls, arose naturally. 10,000 years before the events of World of Warcraft, a catastrophic event known as the Sundering collapsed a reservoir of magic known as the Well of Eternity, shattering Azeroth's sole continent, Kalimdor, into numerous smaller continents. In the era World of Warcraft is set, there are two main competing factions on Azeroth, the Alliance and Horde. Events in World of Warcraft: The War Within reveal that Azeroth also contains a female World Soul, or nascent Titan, at its core. Unable to defend herself, she relies on the inhabitants of Azeroth for protection, as many outside threats, including the malevolent Titan Sargeras, tried and failed to corrupt or kill her. The world of Azeroth was praised for its expansive backstory and memorable locations and races, although its depiction in World of Warcraft drew criticism for its small size and theme park-like simplified design that is optimized for player fun at the expense of immersion in storytelling. The fact that players are forced into heroic roles and pitted against each other in opposing factions has been called indicative of a lack of player freedom, especially as the factions have ceased to have obvious distinctions in their roles.