Before its realm of Azeroth was brought to life in 2004's World of Warcraft, Blizzard had tried once before to add a little depth to their fantasy franchise with a game that sadly never saw the light of day.

World of Warcraft was launched five years ago today, and Kotaku is celebrating all week long, starting with a look at the Warcraft franchise's fifteen-year history with key members of Blizzard's development team.