Questions from Newbie!

New player here with some questions.

What's the difference between the WotLK servers? I'm getting different answers everywhere, so I wanted an official/updated answer from Warmane. I am interested in the rates, population, faction split, # of bugs, PvE/PvP/PvPvE/etc, progressive server or not, etc.

Is there a refer-a-friend service here on Warmane? I have a bunch of buddies LF a new server.

Does this server have custom content/gear on its WotLK realms?

Does this server have a "vote" shop? If so, how do I get to it?

What's the difference between coins and points? Are these the donation points and vote points?

Thanks

WotLK servers are better scripted in general since they put most focus on them, and they have been developed longest.
Factions are about the same on every realm as far as I saw 50/50.
Lordaeron has highest population at 11k peak time and x1 rates, but this also means long times in queus to get in, Ragnaros and Deathwing both are around 2.5k but will be merged soon so that number will most likely end up on 5-6k with x7 rates. only on gold, experience and reputation though, not Gear.
Every server is PvP.
There's no "refer a friend" sadly. Since its a free game, people would make tons of accounts and just say "Im a friend" when its the same person, and get tons of "bonus whatever"
Only on the PvP realms where you get instant 80 and full wrathfull gear is there custom content such as npc's, Otherwise no, they want to stay blizzlike.
The Vote shop is located within "My account" - "Store" and yes vote points can be collected daily by just logging into the game, you need acheivements points though of atleast 1k, and the more acheivement points you have, the more points you get every day. Coins are donated for and can buy better stuff that points cannot.

question1)

Rates:

- The two realms Ragnaros(RAG) and Deathwiwng(DW) are "blizzlike" which means they are almost the same as the genuine Bliz content, but with higher rates (I believe it was x7 experience, x1 honor and arena points, x3 gold drop, x1 legendary drops - basically, raid drop rates are x1). Gathering materials rates are also about x1.

- Lordaeron(LORD) is a project still in development that tries to offer the players as much bug-free content as possible. It aims to also be "blizzlike", but with a mix of x1 and custom rates and also custom features. There are some custom increases/decreases and mechanics implemented by the developers - i.e. no dungeon finder, bosses HP and damage changes, some custom requirements such as item restrictions, but you should better read about it in the Lordaeron realm F.A.Q. There are lots of changes on Lordaeron, probably more to come, too.

Guilds:

- RAG and DW have been active for about over a year, Lordaeron is about half as old. But due to some past events (search for "Moltdown" to see more) the average "quality of equipment" on RAG and DW is a lot higher than most players deserve, so there are quite a lot of geared players that can't play well. Also, the majority of characters are level 80s with roughly ICC-adequate equipment. Most of the random battlegrounds have a few (3-5) full Wrathful geared players from each side, mixed with about 10-15 absolutely non-geared players. Due this, in premades, you usually get an easy win.

- However, most of these well-equipped characters seem to be quite inactive. You'll be in trouble finding a good raid or premade BG or arena team unless you're in a good raiding with a decent schedue, or a PVP-based guild.

- On DW and RAG there are really lots of guilds, too many i.m.o. Guilds keep being created and disbanded each week, but there are a few decent guilds on each side that are relatively stable and know how to operate. Endgame content is easily on farm in most of the well-organized guilds.

- On LORD the content is being "progressively" released (mind that, in a few months all endgame raids may hopefully be released, at least in normal difiulty, so the "progressive release" won't make any difference). However, due to the lower xp rates, most of the players are simply leveling. Don't expect much variety in the endgame. It takes longer to level and equip a character, so most of the focus is on pre-raid or pre-Ulduar & pre-TOC content, if any.

- On LORD the guilds situation is pretty much the same: there are a few good guilds that regularly do the "current endgame", and there are also quite a lot of levelers that may or may not even reach 80. However, the decent raiders usually try to join all available raid content each week, so guilds have an easier time forming a schedule. Relatively higher consistency in the groups and the abilities of players.

- Also, LORD has higher population most of the time (about 1.5x - 2x the pop of each DW or RAG). A merge of DW and RAG is expected to happen soon, so that may not be a long-term issue.

- Neither DW or RAG is "progressive", because the endgame content is on farm. LORD is not progressive, either, because the guilds that do endgame are actually well over it.

Q1 Summary: LORD is slower in rates. DW and RAG have less activity. Some custom things in LORD (read the LORD F.A.Q.)





question2)

- Never heard of refer-a-friend here.






question3)

- Custom gear: no. However, the quest chain for Shadowmourne (that seems to disturb mostly PVP players) is not working. You can obtain SM by donating to the server.

- Custom content: on DW and RAG - no. On LORD - there are some custom changes - no dungeon finder, equipped item restrictions, some custom boss stats, some "inflation reduction mechanism" was being discussed (to no avail) - read the LORD F.A.Q. thread.





question4) & question5)

- There is an alternative to "voteshop" where you don't vote at all. You just log in your account every day, and click "My Account" - "Collect Points". Depending on the cross-realm sum of unique (expansion-specific) achievements, you receive some points.

- On DW and RAG, you can buy level sub-271 incl (i.e. ICC25 normal + LK25n + RS25n) non-heroic items for points ("votepoints").

- There is a "Marketplace" - the "points" is the currency you receive for clicking (for free), and the "coins" is the premium currency obtained by donating. You can buy different things with the two currencies, coins are superior. There is also a "Trade" function where you can sell ingame BoEs or gold or materials to other players for coins.





P.S. There is also a PVP-only instant 80 realm (Blackrock) with PVP gear being sold for free by vendors.

On Lordaeron, there is a queue most of the time (EU evenings/ US middays and later) and you have to wait about an hour to log in.