Which one was the definitive 00s MMORPG?

WoW, by a mile. Very few games in the history of the industry set the world on fire quite like WoW did. It was lightning in a bottle for Blizzard and made them the eternal king of the MMO world.

WoW was the definitive themepark.
Runescape was the definitive sandbox. For people with less money, at least you could play it at school.

>>384917738
Even though I played the shit out of Runescape, and barely WoW, you have to admit WoW takes it by far.

>>384918708
Classic/BC wasn't a themepark outside of there being some really iffy level requirements on quests, white Runescape had/has too.

WoW definitely wins, but they're both iconic.

>>384919052
WoW was certainly a more guided experience, though, with clearly labelled quests and objectives, and the game slowly funneling you through the world on a particular path as you level up. It gave some incentive to visit other regions if you ran out of stuff to do in a particular zone (few ever did), and you have to exert some effort to travel to a region beyond your level.