World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft's raid and dungeon design remains the benchmark the rest of the genre is measured against. Mythic+ in particular solved a problem nobody else has, a scaling five-player format with a timer that stays meaningful from casual to competitive, and it is the reason a lot of people still subscribe.

The larger picture is that there are now two games under one subscription. Retail is a modern MMO with fast levelling, layered endgame systems and a two-year expansion cadence. Classic is the original design, slower and harsher, running on its own servers with its own progression schedule. They attract genuinely different players, and one subscription covers both.