I'm a newcomer into the private server realm. I always knew that private servers existed, except I thought the populations were always low or whatever.
Anyway I want to preface this by saying I started when I was young during the Burning Crusade, and being a kid with no money available to spend on the sub fee, I had given up on leveling to 70. I think the experience overall Warmane has provided with Onyxia is great.
Now I did get a lot of hate for being a 1x leveler (people called me stupid and other things for leveling slowly). I didn't care, because I think people often forget that the whole experience of WoW isn't only experiencing the endgame but actually enjoying the world and the lore around it.
Now I'm not a huge fan of some stuff from the classic era, but I am a really huge fan of the Burning Crusade stuff. Within the realm of roughly three weeks I have gotten to level 64 (and a half), and it's been a really fun ride getting to read each quest and completing each zone. I just wish that I had experienced more of the cooler zones of classic WoW like Feralas and Winterspring.
------
Anyway now for the downside, the downside now is that I think people are really a problem in the game. And I mean that's expected because you have to think about what kind of player would play on a server like Warmane specifically.
I mean I recall having a discussion on prot pallies using stamina and intellect with a guild leader I had and he kicked me out of the guild because he misunderstood something I said regarding the mana consumption of consecration. Like instead of saying "hey we use intellect because such and such, he instead just kicked me out".
So why am I pointing this out? Well because I've encountered a lot of really short-fuse people like this.
I am not saying that people are not respectable, a lot of players are in fact a lot more respectable than the delinquents you see in retail WoW, but it's just a little disappointing to see people like this.
There's also the grifters who gank, I mean these guys like to camp people and it's annoying, unfortunately there's not PvE option that's as healthy as Onyxia anywhere so you just gotta take it, it is what it is. Thankfully I haven't really encountered too much of it, most people are kind and let lowbies just level assuming you don't try to take a resource they're after. I've only had just one rogue who was actually mentally deranged in Falcon Watch that kept doing it.
I think the other biggest problem is the people actually buying the leveling boosts. Now personally I don't mind people doing boosting or getting boosts for leveling, it's what results after boosting that actually is really disappointing. Like just two nights ago I was doing a normal Hellfire Ramparts and this warrior tank was getting boinked by the mobs.
I start questioning his gear and inspect it and the guy was literally using Cloth gloves that you get from the first few quests when you make a character. When the party questioned him or started talking to him, he just wouldn't respond, eventually we found out he was a Chinese player. Now I don't know how he made it to level 62 only through boosts I would imagine he probably burned more than 10000 gold to do it or something but whatever.
Still, it's a problem because he didn't even know how to properly tank or use his utilities, and was outrageously undergeared. And the crazy part about all of this, is that he is not the only one I encountered who just didn't know their class or abilities.
---
Sadly it's not a problem that has any real solutions, if I could I would just be healer or prot, but my guild needs a dps so it's out of the question. Anyhow I'm happy overall, I think the game is great, I think warmane is great, I love the adventure I've had thus far, and I hope to stay awesome.
I think many people are in the same boat here. We weren't able to experience all of what WoW had to offer as a kid or young adult, but now with more free time and stability, Warmane is like a sanctuary where you can enjoy WoW without the thought of our Sub ending, or the expansion moving on.
I'm also glad that warmane exists, because playing on a global server is not the same as it used to be, and warmane maintains the old magic of wow. I admire the staff of warmane, that despite so many complaints (I complained too) they continue this project. Warmane WoW is the only reason I still play on PC.
Best feature of warmane is that we are locked in 3.3.5. so there is no rush to complete stuff. Retail wow has this fear of missing out, because next patch/expansion is X days away.
Best feature of warmane is that we are locked in 3.3.5. so there is no rush to complete stuff. Retail wow has this fear of missing out, because next patch/expansion is X days away.
Indeed this is the #1 selling point of warmane for me.
Retail wow is a constant addiction cycle which is what fuels subscriptions. Warmane respects players time. Now if we could remove mandatory authenticator...
Anyway, is Blackrock-TBC going to stay in 2.4.3 when Onyxia progresses to wotlk? I would like to play nonstop s4 without any FOMO as well.