Do Private Servers Present a Threat to Larger MMO’s?
Filed under: Internet
Does Blizzard
Entertainment have anything to fear when it comes to the private
server community? According to the phenomenally accelerated speed at
which they are growing (and rumored profits), it doesnt seem to be an
issue.
Its difficult to tell
who the first private servers are that went up, but its documented
that there are some as old as 4yrs (at the time of this writing) are
still running. That means less than a year after the release, people
were already hard a work making the software to make their own
servers to play on with and their own rules. Yet, with the fast
rising of WPS’s (World of Warcraft Private Servers), Blizzard has
managed in less that 5yrs, to attract a staggering 9 million paying
subscribers (at $14.99/month)
My research has shown
that doing a Google search on privately advertised WPS’s (,ones that
do not advertise on a TOP X site), over 90% of them have bad links,
and even the majority of those no longer come up on Google’s “cache?
search. It would appear that as fast as they go up, others go down.
Question also arises:
is it legal? There is much debate to whether SERIOUS legal action is
taken against anyone who runs or plays on a WPS. One thing is for
certain, you most likely will get banned permanently from blizzard if
your caught since you agreed not to do such a thing when you signed
up. Since private servers do not charge users for playing, and they
are based off their home pc ? some debate that they can do what
they want on their own system with the software they paid for. Who
knows if that would hold in court.
There are some sites,
however, that could cause a stink. Top sites like “Toxic-Wow? has
ranked in the top 3 best WPS’s in the world. And boast over an 8,000
player cap!!! I went and looked at their site. Its no push over.
These guys mean business. Site is professionally done , and
everything is in order. I logged on and played a bit. Sure enough.
First few quest did not work(what is WOW without a story line of
quest to play out) . However they had the xp set so high that I was
level 4 in 3 min. So this was, a fast server. One that would get you
to 70 quickly by just turning in a few quest.
I’ve played on numerous
WPS’s and they share a few common characteristics.
The majority of
them are operated by minors (ages have ranged from 12 ? 17)
They are VERY
buggy. Quest do not work, pets are irratic, lockups, friendly npc’s
attack you, the list are endless.
When they do try
to update, most of the time loose your toon, oh they are apologetic,
however, your toon is still lost.
Lot of them are
instant 70’s. Which poses problems with getting equipment. While you
can just .additem xxx and receive it, I know from experience that
those items added are missing their special abilities unlike their
counterparts that when they drop you get those abilities.
And they’re pretty
lonely. I mean if you’re into pvp or friends, how enjoyable is it
when there are only 12 people in the world??
So for the most part,
Blizzard doesn’t have much to fear. Its pretty obvious, even 4yrs
later, that the majority of the servers will never achieve the high
standards of a real WoW server. Many people leave because of a
common issue. FRUSTRATION caused by issues listed above. A mediocre
game play, at best , is what can be expected for those that play. But
what do you expect for free?
About the author
Tags: blizzard entertainment, boast, business site, charge users, google, google search, one thing, private server, Profits, stink, subscribers, world of warcraft, world of warcraft private servers, wps
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