There will never be classic servers run by Blizzard. It makes no sense.

[McNeil]

I don't think they'll make a vanilla server untill the end of WoW, because otherwise they'd just be competing with themselves with their current game. Making this server at the end of WoW makes a lot more sense because it'll give players the opportunity to play in the old world that still holds a lot of memories, and is generally a whole different game where its goal lies with the leveling instead of end game.

People play older games all the time and, so I don't see the issue. Being newer doesn't always mean better, maybe from a technical standpoint it improved but that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it more.

[Gadzooks]

There are no "non-profit" servers. All of them make money one way or another - who in their right mind would cover the hardware/bandwidth costs of running one from their own pocket, please let's not float away to socialistic utopia land?

Donations are not a grey area. It equals to getting paid as long as the organization running the server is not a registered non-profit (and none of them are registered or real organizations)

Running copyright infringement court cases in foreign countries is difficult, which is why it might seem Blizzard "doesn't care". But they will care and they will prosecute and shut down as soon as a private server becomes a problem (too visible) - When losses > lawyer cost = takedown.

The server most discussed here is pretty open about donations for hardware to eliminate lag and such, it's not hard to find the links to them asking for cash. But the denial of the vanilla server crowd runs deep and wide, so pointing that out is pointless, they'll just ignore or rationalize it.

- - - Updated - - -

i really agree with this, the game after all these years i basically see vanilla, BC, and wrath as separate games - in the same genre. To me its like no different than playing CoD, battlefield and counter strike.

Dota2 and LoL.

Skyrim, Fallout, borderlands.

Civ 4, endless space, Master of orion 2

I would be subbed for years just playing vanilla and those 2 expansions. Sure i would take breaks from WoW here and there, but at least i would have a game i could go back to time and time again unlike now

Well, great. But just because you want it, doesn't mean Blizzard has to do it. And, there are nearly not enough players like you to make a business case for it - and ultimately, Blizzard simply doesn't want to.

[xChurch]

They won't. The servers help them overall and they know it.

Care to elaborate how?

[Gadzooks]

Not an expert on the subject at all, but as far as I'm aware they're shutting down private servers that are trying to make money off em. There are still many non-profit private servers that are up. Donations are the grey area; I have absolutely no idea how that's handled legally.

I suspect it's like how the band Dream Theater deals with bootlegs - they unofficially say "bootleg the shows all you want, but leave the commercial stuff alone" (the label doesn't want them to say it at all, so they say it unofficially). They don't make money off bootlegged shows, so trade them all you want. But eat into record sales - nope, can't allow that. A lot of bands have that policy, too - Blues Traveler, etc. all allow taping of shows, but crack down on boots of the commercial albums.

It would make sense for Blizzard to approach it like that- if an illegal server is not leeching subs, leave it alone. The servers that got nailed were making millions, at least that one server was - and that was the line that seems to be the one to cross to get the Blizzard legal beagles after you. And, Blizzard all never discuss this - although it's not impossible an employee could discuss this off the record (not saying that's happened, but that's the only way it would be confirmed.) Lawsuits are expensive. The code for illegal servers is out there, that genie isn't going back into the bottle. Let them serve the crowd who aren't going to pay for a sub - but if they start charging a sub, and are getting a lot of business, go after them.

[Deleted]

You dont really store 10 years old sources, "just in case".
If they long ago decided they would not run legacy servers they probably wont have them for a long time.
It all depends on company policy

Ever heard of version control systems like SVN or Git?

VCS is a must for any team of developers. It stores in repository any source code changes commited by devs. And what is really important it allows to recreate source code as it was in repository at any particular time.

[Nostratdamnedus]

The server most discussed here is pretty open about donations for hardware to eliminate lag and such, it's not hard to find the links to them asking for cash. But the denial of the vanilla server crowd runs deep and wide, so pointing that out is pointless, they'll just ignore or rationalize it.

- - - Updated - - -




Well, great. But just because you want it, doesn't mean Blizzard has to do it. And, there are nearly not enough players like you to make a business case for it - and ultimately, Blizzard simply doesn't want to.

well i get this email, like many other people im sure - from blizzard every 4 months to come back to WoW. I check up on mmo champ to see whats up every now and then and go "meh" and move on. It wasnt until i noticed more and more on wow forums, wow reddit or mmochamp discussion of vanilla servers or expansion servers that peak my interests, so much so i started to play on private servers and im having a great time. My only concern is the longevity of these servers, it would really suck if my characters are gone tomorrow but im playing atm with the knowledge that this can happen, but i rather much have an official server to play vanilla on for that reason.

I cannot post on the official WoW forums (not a subscriber for years) and there is no way to send a suggestion to blizzard that i would resub if they offered such a server. My only avenue it seems would be to put in my 2cents on mmochamp forums - something i think blizzard keeps an eye on. From reading WoW forums and MMO champ forums, the discussion of vanilla servers seems to be a long running theme, in a forum echo chamber that is very anti-vanilla server in general. For a topic that gets closed all the time when its pro vanilla server, to keep popping up for years says allot about people with a strong desire for vanilla/expansion servers.

Fact is blizzard is still trying to get old players back to WoW, they /poke players like me every few months to see if they can rekindle interest in the game i used to love. So unless you speak for blizzard i think you should not make such broad statements about blizzard's side of things and make it clear its your opinion.

On another note, this server that you speak of, Nostralius (which i play on) - doesnt have donation or cash shop options, please send me a link from them asking for money because they are hard to find. I saw a reddit post about a year ago asking for donations through paypal but that link has long been broken and any query about donating to Nostralius has been answered with "they get their money through drugs LOL."

[Zephinism]

I'd like to play a WoW Classic server hosted by Blizzard but I'm quite happy on the server I play on right now despite the recent influx of xiao.

[UnknownShadows00]

I am so sick of seeing this BULLSHIT response. Thousands of people played on private servers during BC, during Wrath - if the game was SO great back then, if those were WoW's Golden Years of Amazing Times, why didn't those people pay to play the official game? Why were private servers even a thing back when the game was soooooo good?

Oh, right, because there's thousands of lame-ass cheapskates who think they're entitled to free access to a paid game.

So yeah, stop deluding yourselves with the 'people play on private servers to enjoy the classic game!' lie. People play on private servers so that they can play WoW without having to pay for WoW. Just as they have always done, even when the game was (according to you guys) so fucking great that there should be servers just for those versions of the game.

But I do both!

[Duronos]

well i get this email, like many other people im sure - from blizzard every 4 months to come back to WoW. I check up on mmo champ to see whats up every now and then and go "meh" and move on. It wasnt until i noticed more and more on wow forums, wow reddit or mmochamp discussion of vanilla servers or expansion servers that peak my interests, so much so i started to play on private servers and im having a great time. My only concern is the longevity of these servers, it would really suck if my characters are gone tomorrow but im playing atm with the knowledge that this can happen, but i rather much have an official server to play vanilla on for that reason.

I cannot post on the official WoW forums (not a subscriber for years) and there is no way to send a suggestion to blizzard that i would resub if they offered such a server. My only avenue it seems would be to put in my 2cents on mmochamp forums - something i think blizzard keeps an eye on. From reading WoW forums and MMO champ forums, the discussion of vanilla servers seems to be a long running theme, in a forum echo chamber that is very anti-vanilla server in general. For a topic that gets closed all the time when its pro vanilla server, to keep popping up for years says allot about people with a strong desire for vanilla/expansion servers.

Fact is blizzard is still trying to get old players back to WoW, they /poke players like me every few months to see if they can rekindle interest in the game i used to love. So unless you speak for blizzard i think you should not make such broad statements about blizzard's side of things and make it clear its your opinion.

On another note, this server that you speak of, Nostralius (which i play on) - doesnt have donation or cash shop options, please send me a link from them asking for money because they are hard to find. I saw a reddit post about a year ago asking for donations through paypal but that link has long been broken and any query about donating to Nostralius has been answered with "they get their money through drugs LOL."

I play on it too, they asked for donations at one point but it was literally and only for better servers because these guys can't pay for it all themselves. What was the donation incentive? Just to have better servers and they were very clear about that if you donated that's what it was going towards, you received no in-game rewards because of a donation. Fairly certain you can donate still for future stuff like server upgrades etc. Really hope they make a second PvP server, 10k online is to much.

[Jacob6875]

Everyone says it's nostalgia but I played on a private server for a bit and it was just as fun as I remember even though I played through it all once during classic. I leveled a mage to 60 and had run some dungeons and did part of molten core a couple of times.

The big problem is that the server was based in eastern Europe (Ukraine I think) so ping wasn't exactly amazing for people from North America. It also just suddenly shut down one day with no warning and I lost all my progress.

Sure other servers exist but I have been hesitant to put in the effort again because the can be shut down at any time on a whim by the people running it.

The arguments against Blizzard doing it are just silly.

I mean if a few people can run these private servers with little problems I don't see why Blizzard wouldn't be able to. They don't need to update anything just use the last patch before the next major expansion. If people complain about lack of content they can always play the main game.

They should have one for each expansion and allow people to transfer forward but not backwards. For example you could go from the Classic to BC server but not from BC to classic.

Honestly I just think it would be a lot of fun and give people something to do during the 1 year + waits with no content that we seem to have every expansion.

[Thimagryn]

The arguments against Blizzard doing it are just silly.

I mean if a few people can run these private servers with little problems I don't see why Blizzard wouldn't be able to.

Your lack of information is the problem, not the arguments against Blizzard doing it. If you understand the reasoning behind why Blizzard isn't doing it, as explained multiple times throughout this thread, then you don't need to ask for reasons.

Man hours dedicated to updating server code, potential of profit, plausible business model that wouldn't turn away customers, long-term market viability, long term maintenance and more. There's too much risk vs reward in having official, lag-free, secure and bug-free Vanilla servers. If it was easy as flipping a switch, Blizzard wouldn't think twice, but it's really not that simple.

It all comes down to business decisions. It has nothing to do with comparing it to some 3rd party server being hosted using workarounds.

[Coils]

I firmly believe that, if the day ever comes where it is clear that there is a significant profit to be made from Vanilla realms, Blizzard will develop them. That's the driving factor. They don't believe that players would stick long enough to make it economically worthwhile to devote resources to the undertaking. Reasonable argument - many would take a gander and relive nostalgia for a month, and then return to live game or new game X.

Perhaps once WoW "ends" and no new content is developed, this would become a legitimate draw. They could release Vanilla realms and reset the progression of patches to captivate their core veteran playerbase for years after the game has ceased development. My thoughts, for what they're worth.

[Duronos]

I firmly believe that, if the day ever comes where it is clear that there is a significant profit to be made from Vanilla realms, Blizzard will develop them. That's the driving factor. They don't believe that players would stick long enough to make it economically worthwhile to devote resources to the undertaking. Reasonable argument - many would take a gander and relive nostalgia for a month, and then return to live game or new game X.

Perhaps once WoW "ends" and no new content is developed, this would become a legitimate draw. They could release Vanilla realms and reset the progression of patches to captivate their core veteran playerbase for years after the game has ceased development. My thoughts, for what they're worth.

Tbh I've always thought they should remake Vanilla with the old game design but better specs and gearing for said specs (looking at you balance druid) and then just go off in a different direction from there.

[Nostratdamnedus]

Not my issue. There are definitely going to be people who like the content for what it is, and are putting hours into it. Those people aren't who I'm addressing. It's anyone who is going to be pushed away by the combination of a sub fee on top of content that has always been designed to be time consuming.



There aren't enough who exist to warrant Vanilla servers. It's only a misguided belief that everyone who quit in Vanilla and paid for time they didn't play would be do so now. There's a huge disconnect between the players, and not every Vanilla player back then has the time nor funds to do so today. It's a huge disconnect when you're talking about the dudebro playing WoW in college and staying subbed during exam season and 10 years later when the same guy has a family, kids and completely different priorities. Same person could love WoW and plan to come back, but time and money situations are completely different.

It's been 10 years. How many people do you know have more time as they get older? And to think that they'd spend it on classic WoW? Current WoW is actually designed for casual play for a reason. Nostalrius has the added benefit of not requiring subs, meaning you can play it as casually as you want without any drawback. Blizzard couldn't do this without wasting money.



And it's damned clear that they don't. Not only is it financially risky, but they are directly competing with free servers which offer the exact same experience without the cost. Sure, some people are willing to pay for official servers due to security/stability/support, but there's no indication of how many would and whether this would actually split the Vanilla supporters between Official and Private servers.

Think of it in the perspective of someone who's already committed hours/days/weeks into Nos and continually playing it. Now Blizzard comes up with Vanilla servers, and is CHARGING MONEY for something you'd have to start fresh again, and rebuild your connections and your guild for. Why would you leave Nos to play official if you're already in a tight community with people who already have time invested on the private server? Is there indication that every Nos player is waiting for official servers with money in hand?

Thimagryn you are an idiot, you don’t remotely know what you are talking about and really should just stay off this topic completely.

I can only address some of YOUR midguided beliefs, not all of them because there is some serious mental gymnastics only you can perform.
First off would be the amount of people that would play on an old vanilla server, or expansion servers. Mind you private server players CHOOSE to play on private servers, as in they have to make an effort to set up and play on them, its not a simple 1 button install like on blizzard or steam clients. The obstacles in playing on private servers range from knowing about them, to finding the right one, to play on a server that may disappear tomorrow and so forth. Despite these obstacles, “the most popular” server (which also is the closest thing to original wow) Is overcrowded to an extreme. Even then people still choose to play there, and this is only a small percentage of players that even know private servers exist, what if players in WoW were given a choice to play on vanilla? The desire to play MMORPG is there, WoW in its live form is just a MOG.

2nd issue I have with you is the “dudebro” from 10 years ago. Yes they might not be interested in playing hardcore WoW like they did in the past but what about the next generation of WoW players, the “dudebro’s” of now? You know younger people exist right? There is a huge disconnect with how your brain works man, that whole comment about players then and now just displays how narrow minded you are. Its as if you think people who would play on vanilla servers MUST get to level 60 in one week and clear naxx by the second week or they fail at playing vanilla WoW or something.

3rd issue is the whole sub fee. Again, your mental gymnastics is astonishing, you seem to think all private server players are too poor or cheap to pay for a WoW sub fee. You are suggesting those that spent hundreds of hours on their characters don’t care enough to pay for a sub? Fact is there IS NO ALTERNATIVE to playing Vanilla and that is why you see this topic of vanilla servers pop up time and time again. The only choice we have is private servers which is far from ideal.

“Why would you leave Nos to play official if you're already in a tight community with people who already have time invested on the private server? Is there indication that every Nos player is waiting for official servers with money in hand?”

Spent ONE DAY on <snip> and ask this question in a capital city, but I know you wont, you will say you did and make some shit up im sure.

Mod Edit: Keep it civil please - no insults. Also editing out the name of private servers. Discussing classic servers is different to specifically naming private servers.

[Seranthor]

*snip*

Short answer, Blizzard will give you vanilla servers when and if they believe that it is financially adventurous to them, not one second before. Until which time they believe they'll make a mountain of money from it, its just not going to happen.

Blizzard doesn't care what you and your vanilla server buddies want. No amount of whining, moaning, complaining, posting of numerous threads here, is going to make it happen. Because Money talks, vanilla tears dont.

[Deleted]

Reminder: No specific discussion of private servers please including naming servers or recommending them to people. There is no need to mention specific private servers (against our rules) to have a discussion of the possibility of classic or vanilla realms.

Let's get this back on topic to vanilla/classic servers provided by Blizzard - or it will end up closed.

[Nostratdamnedus]

Short answer, Blizzard will give you vanilla servers when and if they believe that it is financially adventurous to them, not one second before. Until which time they believe they'll make a mountain of money from it, its just not going to happen.

ill agree with you on that, and I think that time is now.

It would be a damn shame if they get too late in releasing vanilla severs / expansion servers, I mean its not like they missed out on the whole moba thing right? got there just in time

[Seranthor]

ill agree with you on that, and I think that time is now.

It would be a damn shame if they get too late in releasing vanilla severs / expansion servers, I mean its not like they missed out on the whole moba thing right? got there just in time

they ARE working on expansion servers... Legion... with them working on Legion, I doubt you have a chance in hell of seeing a Vanilla server any time in the next 2 years, if ever. Perhaps you missed it when the devs spoke not even 90 days ago on this very topic, and again, they slammed the door on your dream.

[Nostratdamnedus]

they ARE working on expansion servers... Legion... with them working on Legion, I doubt you have a chance in hell of seeing a Vanilla server any time in the next 2 years, if ever. Perhaps you missed it when the devs spoke not even 90 days ago on this very topic, and again, they slammed the door on your dream.

what does the size of your penis have to do with people wanting vanilla servers? it makes no sense

Infracted [MoanaLisa]

[Seranthor]

Cool story bro,

Nice edit work 2 posts back btw

Would you rather I NOT be civil and polite? (yea, I did make the choice not to quote your insults, because there was no reason to quote them).