Blizzard's Wow team is just all around missing an opportunity. There is many things to love about Vanilla WoW that haven't been in the game for years.
A true open world, as opposed to a small island with a few zones. Multiple Cities where people congregated instead of a single hub. Meaningful crafting that took you exploring. Very Limited fast travel. Use of boats/airships, flight paths, mounts, and good old fashioned walking to get around. No flying. Open world pvp that could happen anywhere at any level with any player. Populated zones while questing due to not being able to insta queue from a city and crafting mats in open world. *But never too crowded of zones, because there were multiple places to quest at any given level. Pvp encounters were surprising and seeing people doing the same quest as you was a cool feeling because it was probably just you and them and maybe one other person nearby, it felt more realistic. True faction pride. Epic rare loot dropped in open world. A functioning economy where any level of player can profit/benefit using the auction house.
Now Playing: Bless / Summoners War Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
Good job blizzard, these people are nothing but ordinary thieves most of them trying to make money off someones else hard work trough "donation gear". Good job!
Not true,i know of some who run the servers out of their own pocket,own money and do not make a single dime and REFUSE any donations of any kind.
Then the fine line crossed is what it comes.I say this because a lot of these servers are running what we could say are modded versions ,so not the same game.The problem lies in the assets,that is someone else's work not the private servers.
IMO if they want to mimic Wow in some way,change the skins,change the formula/equations,make enough changes that would make it no different than Blizzard copying the same template as EQ/EQ2.That is all Blizzard did was copy SOE and add in their own assets and even after Wow was released Blizzard continued to copy SOE ideas an incorporate them into their game.
Oh, what a load of bullshit about copying EQ/EQ2. Did you even play those, or WoW? I did, and what you're saying is absurd.
Good. Private servers are no different than pirating games. Both you can play completely for free.
If you had to actually BUY the game to play a private server and there was no way to actually play 100% for free and taking away a companies money, that would be different. Lets say this WoW server required you to own and pay for a WoW sub...that is paying Blizzard to play on a private server.
Instead, you just download a paid for game and play for free. That is the very definition of pirating
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
You'll never convince these broken people that it's not a-ok to do this kind of thing. They'll just spin and convince themselves that they are in the right. Selfish brats the lot.
You'll never convince these broken people that it's a-ok to do this kind of thing. They'll just spin and convince themselves that they are in the right. Selfish brats the lot.
Good job blizzard, these people are nothing but ordinary thieves most of them trying to make money off someones else hard work trough "donation gear". Good job!
Not true,i know of some who run the servers out of their own pocket,own money and do not make a single dime and REFUSE any donations of any kind.
Then the fine line crossed is what it comes.I say this because a lot of these servers are running what we could say are modded versions ,so not the same game.The problem lies in the assets,that is someone else's work not the private servers.
IMO if they want to mimic Wow in some way,change the skins,change the formula/equations,make enough changes that would make it no different than Blizzard copying the same template as EQ/EQ2.That is all Blizzard did was copy SOE and add in their own assets and even after Wow was released Blizzard continued to copy SOE ideas an incorporate them into their game.
Not true, they took ideas from several games that were out (and relatively popular) at the time, they said this in several press releases. This fantasy that they copied EQ1is just hogwash conjured up by people that didn't even game at the time. Since you brought it up, they also realized what people did NOT like about those other games and got rid of that. The only valid argument I have sene to date is they (Blizz) got their idea to start Warcraft from Warhammer, which you would need to be blind or completely ignorant to gaming prior to WoW to not realize there is a modicum to truth in that.
All in all is was a masterful piece of game design and marketing. One thing people seem to over look all to often (again as I suspect they weren't into gaming at the time) was that WoW was the first game to use a lot of marketing successfully.
At any rate, intellectual property laws were established for a reason, WoW was scrutinized well beyond release and no theft was determined. Essentially negating your "they copied EQ" argument. Theft is theft, and if you get caught, no matter how noble you envision yourself to be, you are still just a petty thief and should be treated as such.
No they took ideas from eq for sure. But also daoc as well. To think that wow was some original idea is pretty funny though. I completely agree with you though, blizzards approach to marketing at that time was unmatched by anyone. They really sold the game, the idea of it and made it approachable by people who knew the ip and those that have seen or never knew about it before.
I'm baffled by the fact that Blizzard is so resistant to making vanilla servers work. It would bring back many players and it would give current players something to do while waiting for new content.
It wont. There is no financial support for this idea. Only wishfull thinking. If blizz would calculate it is profitable for them to make legacy servers they would be done in a instant.
Blizzard putting in legacy servers now is just a waste for them. They KNOW legacy servers will bring in some money, they're just keeping it in their pocket til they need it. I'm pretty sure Blizzard said they're already working on a couple more expansions, so if they tossed out legacy now they would probably lose out on a lot of money from people not buying the newest expansion and just playing on legacy servers.
that's pure bullshit. sorry.
blizzard always said they want the game in the state THEY concider right, and since it's their game, it is quite legit to do so. so far blizz closed ALL public servers, simply because they are - wait for it - illegal.
it doesn't matter what you think or want or "demand", there is a law, and blizz has the right to own their propperty. obviously.
and quite frankly, they never said they would open legacy servers. blizzard is running THEIR GAME THE WAY THEY WANT. and they have the god damn right to do so. it is THEIR game.
uh and for the record, some thousand people is nothing blizzard cares about. money? you are cute. i don't think you realize how much money blizzard is actually making.
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Good job blizzard, these people are nothing but ordinary thieves most of them trying to make money off someones else hard work trough "donation gear". Good job!
Not true,i know of some who run the servers out of their own pocket,own money and do not make a single dime and REFUSE any donations of any kind.
Then the fine line crossed is what it comes.I say this because a lot of these servers are running what we could say are modded versions ,so not the same game.The problem lies in the assets,that is someone else's work not the private servers.
IMO if they want to mimic Wow in some way,change the skins,change the formula/equations,make enough changes that would make it no different than Blizzard copying the same template as EQ/EQ2.That is all Blizzard did was copy SOE and add in their own assets and even after Wow was released Blizzard continued to copy SOE ideas an incorporate them into their game.
Good. Shut all those thieves down. The only private/emu servers should be those dedicated to dead games, like SWG.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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I'm baffled by the fact that Blizzard is so resistant to making vanilla servers work. It would bring back many players and it would give current players something to do while waiting for new content.
Think it's only cause Legion did pretty well and is an overall decent xpac. If it panned out like WoD, i think legacy servers would have been a thing.
also think they did what you said, there would be a possibility of people playing their legacy servers more than their current servers, i mean it would take one shitty patch or content drought for player to switch ships and Bliz wouldn't hear the last of it after the statements they made about legacy servers. Think they just don't want to even play with that possibility.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I agree with everything you said, except the last part of your last sentence. I have little doubt that many of the people playing on private Vanilla servers would happily pay $15 to Blizzard for official, supported servers they know wouldn't disappear overnight. I realize not all of them would, but I think a lot of them would.
I agree with what you agreed with me on. The only question is whether it's worth it. Are the people playing these servers already subscribers? Can they make enough to justify it? The average Blizz employee is responsible for generating $250k revenue per year. So could they assemble a team the size that would make sense financially AND to provide a great experience? That's the real question.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I don't have a WoW subscription currently. If they offered a sub where I could play legacy or current versions I would have a subscription. I personally like the old version much more than the new version no rose coloured glasses needed.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I don't have a WoW subscription currently. If they offered a sub where I could play legacy or current versions I would have a subscription. I personally like the old version much more than the new version no rose coloured glasses needed.
I think most everyone would agree that shutting these servers down has a negligible effect on Blizz's current subs.
The fact that the most popular of private serves are about as far from the current version as possible is very telling.
EDIT- Don't get me wrong, I'm not guaranteeing a boom in subs attained by offering official legacy servers... There are tons of reasons (that have nothing to do with WoW specifically) that a sub is a hard sell these days. But the folks enjoying vanilla WoW aren't doing it simply because they can't/don't want to pay for current version WoW.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I agree with everything you said, except the last part of your last sentence. I have little doubt that many of the people playing on private Vanilla servers would happily pay $15 to Blizzard for official, supported servers they know wouldn't disappear overnight. I realize not all of them would, but I think a lot of them would.
Blizz know this. They also know that in 3 months people would quit due to unpolished mess which was Vanilla. Specs which dont work, classes who can play ONLY one spec (Holy Paladin or GTFO ie).
People would jump head on (i would) and then, after some time just quit to return to more polished, Legion servers. That's why blizz wont do it. Waste of their time, money and resources.
I'm baffled by the fact that Blizzard is so resistant to making vanilla servers work. It would bring back many players and it would give current players something to do while waiting for new content.
It wont. There is no financial support for this idea. Only wishful thinking. If blizz would calculate it is profitable for them to make legacy servers they would be done in a instant.
Nah, they are too afraid of losing players to legacy servers and making their current expansions less profitable. There are plenty of things Blizzard could make a profit on, such as another D3 expansion. But they only have their sites on massively profitable games like HS and Overwatch. Those games make others in their portfolio look like shit in terms of profit margins.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I agree with everything you said, except the last part of your last sentence. I have little doubt that many of the people playing on private Vanilla servers would happily pay $15 to Blizzard for official, supported servers they know wouldn't disappear overnight. I realize not all of them would, but I think a lot of them would.
Blizz know this. They also know that in 3 months people would quit due to unpolished mess which was Vanilla. Specs which dont work, classes who can play ONLY one spec (Holy Paladin or GTFO ie).
People would jump head on (i would) and then, after some time just quit to return to more polished, Legion servers. That's why blizz wont do it. Waste of their time, money and resources.
The only problem with Vanilla servers has and always will be what to do once you have hit cap and done the raids and have the gear.. There is / wont be progression on locked vanilla servers so then what. You are on a server that is just a time capsule of the past like several of the private servers. Some slowly release new content over time but then that turns around an negates it being a vanilla server and the time / effort put into maintaining and bug fixing what vanilla was. It is just one of them things I doubt we will ever see from Blizzard. Regardless if there is 100k people or so wanting to pay for it. It would cost way more then 100k people paying per month to maintain and bug fix a special version of wow that wouldn't really / couldn't really change. Just not worth the time or effort from blizzard.
I personally would much rather they make a WoW2 or WoS and take what made Vanilla great and put that into them instead. Make it less easy mode where everyone wins and more of a challenge.
Who knows if people would pay for a vanilla or TBC server put out by Blizz. Maybe people just play on the private servers cause they are free.
On the private servers running Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK? I doubt most of those people are playing a decade old version of the game because it's free. Would you play a version of a game you didn't like because it was free? I wouldn't. They're probably playing because they think the current version of the game sucks (and I agree with them) and the only way they can play the older version that they enjoy is on a private server.
With the people who play on private servers that are running the current version of the game, yeah those people are playing because it's free. But as for the people playing Vanilla/TBC/WotLK, why would you play Legacy WoW on a private server when you can play a newer version of the game on a private server? They're both free, right? Seems pretty obvious to me that playing Legacy WoW is not about it being free for those people. They simply have no other option to play that version of the game. If an officially supported version of the game was made available, I don't doubt for a second you'd see those people migrate to it in droves (not all of them, but I'd bet most of them would). Whatever Blizzard puts out is going to be a less-buggy, more polished experience.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
I agree with everything you said, except the last part of your last sentence. I have little doubt that many of the people playing on private Vanilla servers would happily pay $15 to Blizzard for official, supported servers they know wouldn't disappear overnight. I realize not all of them would, but I think a lot of them would.
Blizz know this. They also know that in 3 months people would quit due to unpolished mess which was Vanilla. Specs which dont work, classes who can play ONLY one spec (Holy Paladin or GTFO ie).
People would jump head on (i would) and then, after some time just quit to return to more polished, Legion servers. That's why blizz wont do it. Waste of their time, money and resources.
Sorry, but nobody who prefers Vanilla WoW is going to settle for the Easy Mode garbage that is Legion. I don't care how polished it is.
So easy mode it's the hardest raiding content to date according to Method. That hate boner is drawing too much blood from your head.
1) should have been expected that the server would get closed if it was hosted in the US.
2) i would be willing to pay a sub for a vanilla server
3) i think the disconnect with some people has nothing to do with game difficulty, but more of presentation. the last few wow expansions have gone full blow Theme park and the experience feels totally on rails(even the "open" zones), while older iterations felt more like a "very themey" sand park. legion and vanilla feel like 2 completely different games.
personally(i know many will disagree) i miss the mundane things like gathering/crafting not feeling tacked on last minute, side grade rep grinds, consumable farming for raid prep, and class diversity (non homogenized roles)....even the talent system.... tho i know it was just an illusion of choice. ------------------------------------------------------------------
as to which was harder(i did progressive raiding back in the day).....Legion is mechanically harder.....Vanilla and TBC were logistically harder.
basically legion fights are more dyanamic and it takes more situational awareness and critical decision making skills to succeed making it mechanically harder.. But pretty much all of the fights can be done as long as you have the basic roles filled.
Vanilla was more static but it had more gating logistics(not even counting 40 players with varying egos) .....like needing x amount of people with frost damage, or x amount of mana burners, X amount of specifically warriors, or gimping half your raids offensive/defensive capabilities in exchange for resist gear. you also have to factor in that computer hardware was a lot more varied back then.....things like lag(hell vanilla could be run with dial up), frame rate drops, and server stability could just as easily wipe raids.
Comments
A true open world, as opposed to a small island with a few zones.
Multiple Cities where people congregated instead of a single hub.
Meaningful crafting that took you exploring.
Very Limited fast travel.
Use of boats/airships, flight paths, mounts, and good old fashioned walking to get around.
No flying.
Open world pvp that could happen anywhere at any level with any player.
Populated zones while questing due to not being able to insta queue from a city and crafting mats in open world.
*But never too crowded of zones, because there were multiple places to quest at any given level. Pvp encounters were surprising and seeing people doing the same quest as you was a cool feeling because it was probably just you and them and maybe one other person nearby, it felt more realistic.
True faction pride.
Epic rare loot dropped in open world.
A functioning economy where any level of player can profit/benefit using the auction house.
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
Oh, what a load of bullshit about copying EQ/EQ2. Did you even play those, or WoW? I did, and what you're saying is absurd.
If you had to actually BUY the game to play a private server and there was no way to actually play 100% for free and taking away a companies money, that would be different. Lets say this WoW server required you to own and pay for a WoW sub...that is paying Blizzard to play on a private server.
Instead, you just download a paid for game and play for free. That is the very definition of pirating
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
I'm a MUDder. I play MUDs.
Current: Dragonrealms
No they took ideas from eq for sure. But also daoc as well. To think that wow was some original idea is pretty funny though. I completely agree with you though, blizzards approach to marketing at that time was unmatched by anyone. They really sold the game, the idea of it and made it approachable by people who knew the ip and those that have seen or never knew about it before.
So much potential money they're just ignoring, while continuing to ruin everything else.
blizzard always said they want the game in the state THEY concider right, and since it's their game, it is quite legit to do so.
so far blizz closed ALL public servers, simply because they are - wait for it - illegal.
it doesn't matter what you think or want or "demand", there is a law, and blizz has the right to own their propperty. obviously.
and quite frankly, they never said they would open legacy servers.
blizzard is running THEIR GAME THE WAY THEY WANT. and they have the god damn right to do so. it is THEIR game.
uh and for the record, some thousand people is nothing blizzard cares about. money? you are cute. i don't think you realize how much money blizzard is actually making.
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
why do you exist?
The only private/emu servers should be those dedicated to dead games, like SWG.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
also think they did what you said, there would be a possibility of people playing their legacy servers more than their current servers, i mean it would take one shitty patch or content drought for player to switch ships and Bliz wouldn't hear the last of it after the statements they made about legacy servers. Think they just don't want to even play with that possibility.
I don't think people are playing it exclusively because it's free. I think that the question is "If Blizzard released a Vanilla, TBC, and WotLK server tomorrow for $15 per month, would people PAY to play on that server?" So they might prefer Vanilla, but the question is whether they'd actually pay money to 1) Play on that server, 2) Play on a Blizzard server. Let's not forget that there are a myriad of other mods on private servers, too. So I don't think people play exclusively because it's free, but I also don't think that people would migrate to pay Blizzard $15 a month to play Vanilla.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
The fact that the most popular of private serves are about as far from the current version as possible is very telling.
EDIT- Don't get me wrong, I'm not guaranteeing a boom in subs attained by offering official legacy servers... There are tons of reasons (that have nothing to do with WoW specifically) that a sub is a hard sell these days. But the folks enjoying vanilla WoW aren't doing it simply because they can't/don't want to pay for current version WoW.
People would jump head on (i would) and then, after some time just quit to return to more polished, Legion servers. That's why blizz wont do it. Waste of their time, money and resources.
I personally would much rather they make a WoW2 or WoS and take what made Vanilla great and put that into them instead. Make it less easy mode where everyone wins and more of a challenge.
I'm a MUDder. I play MUDs.
Current: Dragonrealms
I am amazed anyone would even try to do this in the 1st place given recent events.
2) i would be willing to pay a sub for a vanilla server
3) i think the disconnect with some people has nothing to do with game difficulty, but more of presentation. the last few wow expansions have gone full blow Theme park and the experience feels totally on rails(even the "open" zones), while older iterations felt more like a "very themey" sand park. legion and vanilla feel like 2 completely different games.
personally(i know many will disagree) i miss the mundane things like gathering/crafting not feeling tacked on last minute, side grade rep grinds, consumable farming for raid prep, and class diversity (non homogenized roles)....even the talent system.... tho i know it was just an illusion of choice.
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as to which was harder(i did progressive raiding back in the day).....Legion is mechanically harder.....Vanilla and TBC were logistically harder.
basically legion fights are more dyanamic and it takes more situational awareness and critical decision making skills to succeed making it mechanically harder.. But pretty much all of the fights can be done as long as you have the basic roles filled.
Vanilla was more static but it had more gating logistics(not even counting 40 players with varying egos) .....like needing x amount of people with frost damage, or x amount of mana burners, X amount of specifically warriors, or gimping half your raids offensive/defensive capabilities in exchange for resist gear. you also have to factor in that computer hardware was a lot more varied back then.....things like lag(hell vanilla could be run with dial up), frame rate drops, and server stability could just as easily wipe raids.
as i stated above....basically 2 different games.