When you think of John Romero, you think fast FPS action, chainsaws, and the birth of DOOM. But here’s something that might surprise Slayer fans: Romero says the game he poured the most time into wasn’t a shooter at all. It was World of Warcraft.

In a recent interview, Romero revealed he logged more than 3,000 hours in Blizzard’s legendary MMORPG. Not casual play either. We’re talking roughly six hours a day, for about five years. His words? He didn’t just play it. He lived in it.

Romero joined raiding guilds, leveled multiple characters, and dove deep into the systems that made WoW such a phenomenon. At the time, he was also working on his own MMO project, studying what made Blizzard’s design so addictive and community-driven.

For Romero, it wasn’t about copying ideas. It was about understanding why millions of players stayed hooked for years. That kind of design depth clearly impressed one of the architects of modern shooters.

Funny to think: while we were ripping and tearing, Romero was grinding raids.

Even legends need loot.