Well, that's how the fiction goes, anyway. In reality, the Cataclysm unleashed Tuesday is a carefully controlled series of fastidiously tweaked upgrades that Blizzard has been beta testing for nine months. But some truly unplanned cataclysms have rocked World of Warcraft in the game's six-year history.
Relive with us seven of the craziest catastrophes to befall the virtual realm.
(Special thanks to WoW experts Gus Mastrapa, Karen Chu, John Mix Meyer and Clarence Lum.)
Authors: Chris Kohler