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by Lisa Poisso 
Aug 25th 2009 at 1:00PM
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.As Blizzard re-imagines old Azeroth, sweeps tired systems out the door and injects new ways for players to connect and work together, we can't imagine why anyone would not want to take advantage of what this top-notch MMO and company have to offer. There are players, however, who choose a different path. These players game on private servers, where conditions range from near-original mirrors to god-mode gameplay with super-GM abilities.
We don't condone private server play, which is clearly against Blizzard's Terms of Service and EULA. Still, there are plenty of players who believe differently, and we were curious why they've chosen the private server route. We visited with a player who plays on a relatively tame private server featuring near-"normal" game play. What can he do that we can't? And what do we have that he doesn't?
Main character Laughoutloud, level 80 Mage (Arcane, Frost)
Realm N/A
15 Minutes of Fame: What is playing on a private server all about? What makes it interesting for you?
Laughoutloud: It's the same reason as people playing on retail: the fun of the game. The fact that the (XP) rates are a little bit higher makes it easier to get to level 80, but at the same time, it isn't so high such that you miss the roleplaying factor of the game. I play on a server that is Blizz-like, meaning no custom mobs or custom quests; everything is supposed to be like retail, except with a 3x boost in experience points.
Well, since I play on a Blizz-like server, there isn't much of a difference except for the experience rates being different. Also, there is a custom teleporter to take you to different home cities instead of taking the zeppelin or the ship, which is a lot easier. There are also custom events that the GMs of the server would host from time to time. It can be PvP- or PvE-related, with in-game rewards. The rewards usually are one or two emblems or some arena points.
Do you have to pay to play on your private server?
No.
How long have you been on a private server?
About 8 months.
Do you also play WoW on a regular server?
No, not any more. I used to, for a little bit.
How does the play experience compare – more or fewer players, bugs, customer support, and so on?
I don't know how the people get the code from and etc. to run WoW servers, but it's obviously not from Blizzard, so the quality of a couple of programmers can't beat that of the team of Blizzard. Thus, there are more bugs, less players per realm. However, customer support is probably more than Blizzard, since you can actually talk to the GMs real-time by IRC.
Blizzard looks at playing on and even connecting to a private server as violations of their Terms of Service and EULA. How does that affect your feelings about where you play?
It doesn't really affect me much, because if they really strongly enforced their Terms of Services and EULA, there wouldn't be so many private servers out there. I believe a lot of the private servers' server hosts are in U.S., so it shouldn't be that hard to track and close if they really wanted to. It's not like BitTorrent, where most of the website servers are located outside of U.S. It really could be part of their business strategy to intentionally allow small private servers to run. It's just like books, movies, or in some other companies where "leakage of information" happens -- but it's really done intentionally.
If eventually they really crack down on private servers and close them down, I'm fine with that too, as it's their right to do so. Will I go back on retail? Probably not, because of time and money issues.
When you say your server offers a 3x XP boost, is that over current XP levels or the original leveling speed when WoW first launched?
I'm not too sure, but I think it's the current XP level and not the beta or original XP level when the game first launched.
What about all the features Blizzard has added to accelerate leveling speed and ease for players? Do those make you more likely to go back to a Blizzard server?
You mean if Blizzard increases the exp gained and make everything 3x rate as well? If so, I won't go back. My reason is not because leveling on retail is too slow, it's because of the time and money that needs to be put into the game. When I pay for something, I feel the pressure to need to play to get my money well spent. I also don't really work either, so paying the monthly fee just seems like something I can save. I am a full-time student, so playing on private server allows me to stop playing when I need to focus on school without "losing" my money paid.
Around 200ish.
Is it hard to find enough people your level to get a group?
Yeah, it is -- when I started to play, anyway. There are more people than before when I started, so I'm not too sure. At 80, it's not too hard to find a raid group.
Do you play mostly on your own, with a small group of friends, with a guild, or in pickup groups?
I play with a small group of friends; also, pickup groups.
Do you belong to a guild? Are there many guilds on your server?
Yes, I belong to a guild created by me and my friends. There aren't many guilds on the server -- probably about four to five noticeable ones in each faction, with a bunch of random ones that aren't very populated.
What type of content are you playing now?
I am playing the Lich King right now, but patch 3.1.3. We do raids.
When WoW gets a patch, do you get it at the same time, or do you have to wait?
Nope, we usually have to wait for whoever is doing the main code for private server WoW to release something. I am not sure what group does that, though -- but I know it's not the people running the private server I'm on.
"I never thought of playing WoW like that!" - neither did we, until we talked with these players. From an award-winning fantasy author and an Oscar-winning 3-D effects director to a bunch of guys who get together for dinner and group raiding in person every week, catch it on 15 Minutes of Fame.Filed under: Features, Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 8)
Barinthos Aug 25th 2009 1:21PM
Some people just enjoy tinkering with that kind of stuff. It's not about being able to "stick it to Blizz" or "to get phat lewt fast" but just "can I do this?" or "can I pull this off?".
A while ago I played on, ran and hosted my own server. It wasn't anything serious, just something for kicks and grins. Besides, it was what got my g/f(wife now) to start playing, and once she got used to the game, got hooked I was able to get her the full game and a subscription.
Bobby Aug 25th 2009 1:17PM
I actually don't think private servers are all that bad. I started playing wow on a private server because I wasn't willing to pay for the games and the time. Because I enjoyed it so much I came to retail wow. The trial blizzard gives is great but on a private server I was able to see high-level content and realized all the fun that wow has to offer. Anyways I'm not saying private servers are good but I wouldn't be playing and paying for wow if I hadn't started on one.
Kilmarnok Aug 25th 2009 1:18PM
I disagree. Just because it's wrong doesn't mean people don't want to know more about why people do these things. I enjoyed the articles wow.com did on gold farmers a little while back and would enjoy reading more articles about the seedier topics MMO's like WoW have to deal with.
Kilmarnok Aug 25th 2009 1:22PM
fail on my part - meant this as a reply to Bossy's earlier comment.
shiplore Aug 25th 2009 1:40PM
That's fine, if you want to do an investigative or exploratory piece, the other's you mentioned were well done, the interview with "porkchop" was close to the line this crossed it.
it's in "15 minutes of fame" the description is ""I never thought of playing WoW like that!" - neither did we, until we talked with these players. From an award-winning fantasy author and an Oscar-winning 3-D effects director to a bunch of guys who get together for dinner and group raiding in person every week, catch it on 15 Minutes of Fame."
You shouldn't be thinking of playing wow like this.
Win Aug 25th 2009 3:24PM
@Shiplore
If people play WoW like this after playing retail, there's a big chance they will come back to retail. Private servers are fun, but extremely buggy and few times are they populated.
Also, why does it bother you so much? There are still millions of people playing retail, so you don't have to worry about Blizzard employees getting laid off due to no one playing. If people chose to break the rules, let them. It's their lives. They may or may not get caught. Either way, it's not effecting YOUR life.
Everybody Aug 25th 2009 1:23PM
Private servers have far too many technical problems to make them worth investing your time in. Time is money, and regardless of whether you're spending actual dollars, you're still paying a cost for an inferior product.
Meethan Aug 25th 2009 1:24PM
I've played on a private server before just because simply I wanted to have GM powers. Didn't get them, but I did get free gear and levels.
Strahl Aug 25th 2009 1:29PM
I just wanted to put my 2-cents in about this topic. I've grown tired of hearing people going on and on about how evil these servers are, wondering what might be on them, etc. At times it makes me laugh, but at other times its just... /facepalm. Your account information isnt going to get magically stolen just for browsing a website. If you got hacked after checking out a free server, then you a) used the same login/password for the free server that you did for retail, like a dumbass, or b) dont browse the internet safely (ie with an updated antivirus software, firewall, etc.), like a dumbass. If you really want to know about them, go google the subject. Check out some of the more popular websites for these servers and get your questions answered.
I guess I grew up in a different time, but my MMO experiences came about through free shards of Ultima Online. Eventually starting my own with a group of friends and running it successfully for almost 6 years. After that, playing on wow servers that were up before the game went live just to check it out. Yes there are going to be more bugs than retail, that's pretty much a given for any emulated game out there, but it's not 100% crap. Admins, GMs, as well as players-- most are good people that just dont feel it warranted to pay $15 a month for a game they might play an hour or two every other day. In some cases, the free option actually gets you better gameplay, better connection speeds, better features, better "customer service" than the real thing! My personal belief is that Blizzard isnt going to see a dime from them anyway, usually if you play on a free server, if that service didnt exist, you just wouldnt play.
I know that if I ever quit wow, I would look up some of the free servers to check them out (at the very least just to check out any content that I hadnt been able to see).
Strahl Aug 25th 2009 1:33PM
Forgot to add-- Loved the article. It's nice to hear about different aspects of wow that dont involve the latest and greatest flavor of the month arena comp.
Mitheros Aug 25th 2009 1:31PM
it's a great way to find out about the game, but I'd still rather play the retail WoW, because I for one am chomping at the bit for the Worgen and all the new stuff Cataclysm has to offer, so the sooner I can get that the better. the biggest thing that stuck out to me about private servers is all the glitches. I have a couple friends that play on a 3x private server, with 3x the XP, and the people running it made it so quest items ALWAYS drop no matter what, and they also spawned a ton of treants and fire elementals in SW to slow the over eager horde raids on Stormwind my friends always talk about. they also say they constantly run into very glitched areas where mobs stack on top of each other up to 10-20 times, but it looks like there's only one enemy there, but if you attack that one, all of a sudden you're being attacked by 20 enemies at once, and you're dead.
private servers might be fun for some, but I say no thanks, I like being able to talk to other people, not get quest items with every single drop when I'm not even on that quest, and not having to deal with the insane glitches these private servers are plagued with. half the fun of retail WoW is the challenge, but when you twist the challenge to make everything this easy, where's the fun?
Lisa Poisso Aug 25th 2009 1:31PM
Incidentally, we'll be removing/editing any comments with how-to instructions or links to specific sites that support, run or promote private servers/emulators. Happy to open this topic for discussion, but we're not here to promote private servers.
hypoelectron Aug 26th 2009 8:39PM
I wonder if Blizzard will allow private servers for a fee, when they decide to quite producing warcraft for example maybe lan play... but that's assuming thier thinking of dropping the game after 5yrs.
Petal Aug 25th 2009 1:36PM
Great job Lisa and wow.com editors! Let's get everyone interested in private servers and the 'free gear and levels' and '3x XP' they offer. How about the fact that they are illegal? Is wow.com's stance "oh, it's okay because we mentioned they violate the EULA"?
It's not JUST that they violate the EULA... they actively hack the code to make their servers. These are the same kind of people that are hacking accounts, stealing your gold, deleting your characters and dropping hundreds of dead gnomes into URL messages.
Don't just say "we don't condone" — set an example and say what a bad, bad idea it is to support such practices.
springwater Aug 25th 2009 1:44PM
@Petal
"set an example and say what a bad, bad idea it is to support such practices"
A journalist isn't meant to be objective; telling us what to do or what not to do in the ream of wrong vs. right should have been taken care of years ago at age 5 by Mommy and Daddy. Journalism exists to provide information meant to shed light on something that people may not know about. It's not wow.com's responsibility to police the actions of its readers.
Petal Aug 25th 2009 2:33PM
If these were journalists and not bloggers, I'd lend credence to your argument... HOWEVER, as they are 'bloggers' — it is their opinions that we are reading.
Using your example of 'Journalism exists to provide information' I have to ask: where's the information? Oh, private servers exist and here's some random guys opinions on it? It's not wow.com's responsibility to police the actions of its readers, you're right: but they do have a responsibility to be a little less cavalier in their approach to an ongoing problem: the hacking and cheating that exists in all MMOs (not just WoW).
springwater Aug 25th 2009 2:58PM
Just because you know something doesn't mean everyone else does. Agree or not, there is information in the article. Do you go into an elementary school and claim that the books kids learn from have no information simply because a sizeable mass of the population is already familiar with the subject?
And your comparison of Journalist vs. Blogger is laughable here. This is an article, posted on a news site. It doesn't contain objective or biased views you'd find on a blog. I don't care if Santa Claus wrote the article, it's still an article. Articles are written by journalists.
And as far as opinions go, I see none in the article, so good job on failing. Again.
Jill Aug 25th 2009 1:35PM
Kudos to you guys for bringing a story about this controversial topic, much like the stories on gold farming. It's nice to see true journalism on here. Methinks a few people need to step back and realize this isn't a "news feed" type site, but a place to share information about the WoW community, from gold farming to minority groups in games to things that aren't particularly legal. Clearly the practice of *not* discussing things seen as "wrong" works very well for society; out of sight, out of mind? Yeah, right. That's gone well; take a look at teen pregnancy rates.
This is great journalism, and it's already beginning to serve its purpose: to cause discussion, questioning, and analysis. Don't just sit here and say "Hey it's in the EULA, it's wrong!" Why do you see it as wrong? What do you think others see in it that makes it okay? Is there any way it could benefit the gaming community if you took out the monetary aspect?
**puts on her fire-proof jacket** Flame on, peeps. At least, somewhere amongst the fires, you're discussing the topic and possibly forming new ideas. :)
Petal Aug 25th 2009 1:38PM
True journalism? Are you kidding me? Where's the balance? This is just 20 questions with no regards to what the implications of these servers are.
Please note: 'Bloggers' are NOT 'journalists' — but thanks for trying.
shiplore Aug 25th 2009 1:42PM
The main problem is there was no voice from wow insider, it was 10 questions and let someone spout off on how cool they are doing something illegal. This wasn't a journalistic highpoint for WOW.com, in a piece designed to feature members of the community. yuck.