Originally Posted by
Eroginous
The logical disconnect here is where you understand that Blizzard has every right and should protect their IP in this way, but you're upset that they did so. If you really understood Blizzard's position, you wouldn't consider playing on a private server in the first place. You would either a) be content with retail or b) not play wow at all. You wouldn't make the illogical choice of putting Blizzard into an impossible position and then blame them for doing something they have to do.
It doesn't matter what a private server does better or what a live server does worse. It's all a matter of opinion and the size/scope of Blizzard's multi continent gaming platform is why it would be so difficult to add a functional legacy server. You're basically asking them to rewrite the game (for free) so that it works in 2016 with their current system and expecting it to be the same as it was back then minus all the problems. You want them take on a massive project for something that probably won't yield much return (if any at all), and likely won't result in the experience you want anyway. And then you're asking everyone to ignore the giant elephant in the room - PRIVATE SERVERS STILL EXIST EVEN IF BLIZZARD MAKES A LEGACY SERVER. Private servers are still a problem even in your fantasy scenario, they don't just go away because Blizzard caves and hosts a legacy server. So the end result is we have Blizzard investing all this capital (with very little return) into making legacy servers a thing, meanwhile private servers are still up and running their own versions of the game for whatever specific experience they claim to want.
No, the current situation is the only ideal one, unfortunately. You have to play Blizzard's version of the game or accept the consequences when a pirated version gets taken away. You don't get to cry foul or fault anyone other than yourselves. Like I said, what's better/worse about Nostalrius is a matter of opinion. A small team running one server hosting a much simpler version of the game, managing only a few thousand players at any moment, probably has a much easier time dealing with in-game issues with fewer delays for obvious reasons. It's not like Blizzard employees can just stare at live servers like the it's the Matrix code and see cheaters and just say 'fuck it, too busy counting money' instead. Blizzard relies heavily on player reporting to catch people who cheat. It's not like Warden is a end-all tool for stopping cheating. It's just one tool, that sometimes weeds out lazy cheaters. Everything else requires a report and an investigation. You can't just ban a paying customer when someone hits the 'submit report' button, you have to do your due diligence because that's just good (legal) business practice.
Like I said, the logical disconnects are obvious. Everything Blizzard has done in this situation makes sense to me because I understand the business/logistics side of game development. If you have someone wanting to buy an item from a cash shop, that's good enough reason to have one. If you don't want to buy things from a cash shop, then don't. What others do with their resources is none of your concern. Same thing goes for in-game features like group finder or flying mounts. Don't use them if you want an experience sans those things. You can still walk to any dungeon/raid and so can your entire guild if that's what you're little hearts desire. Hell, you could RP walk the whole way and act out the entire journey over a weekend of D&D in Ventrilo if you want.
I've sat here and played this game for over 10 years. I've seen players manufacture their own niche play methods and build a community of like-minded players willing to put the group first. This includes things like doing old vanilla raids at or below level with limitations to make it challenging and fun (like the old days!) for everyone involved. Hell, I've been a part of several different twink communities over the years and I've seen first hand what the will of the player base can do in the face of poor game design, so I'm not excusing Blizzard for dropping any balls or making poor choices with their game. But I'm also not excusing private servers, because I've watched all these things happen on live servers.
While the nostalgia and small scope of Nostalrius might have attracted a tight woven community, you have to understand that Wow's live server community is spread out across a hundred servers on half a dozen data centers across multiple continents. You have servers spanning different time zones, language barriers, and guilds branching out with leadership tightly woven through the game. This game is too big, too complicated, and far too popular for your version of the game to ever be a reality again on live servers. Those are just plain facts. Rather than fight against change, rather than trying to appease an extremely small group of very particular people, they have embraced the reality they find themselves in - Wow is more than just Vanilla. It's about forward momentum, progressing the game, and developing new tools/features that players can take advantage of to leverage the most fun out of their play time, while simultaneously doing what's feasible (very important word, considering size/scope of Wow) to fix the problems as they arise. It's not Blizzard fault a bunch of grumpy old men are too stuck in 2004 to get off the front porch and experience what the game has to offer.
While it does have its problems, most players on live are quite happy with their play experience (which is why they continue to play the game) and I'm even willing to bet that a lot of players don't even consider the idea that private servers exist. I know that I only ever tried one out of curiosity and immediately remembered why I like Blizzard as a company and stuck to playing Live servers. While you do get a tight nit group who does a great job of execution on the things they want, your little group of volunteers will never be able to produce the game experience we currently have on live (you know, the things players actually like about the game).
No, you're stuck in 2004 on that one, and that's shitty. I don't care about being level 100. But I sure as shit enjoy playing my panda monk with her high rez model and updated class design. If I took that much issue with retail Wow, I would just quit. I'd never play a private server instead (especially instead).