A private server for World of Warcraft has gone live and was immediately shut down. It apparently gained too much public attention and fell into the spotlight of Blizzard.
“Private server” or “Classic Server,” say some. “Pirate server,” say others.
This refers to servers operated by private individuals without Blizzard’s consent, running older versions of World of Warcraft.
In the past, these were mostly “classic versions” (Nostalrius, Elysium) that brought back a version of WoW from 2005. This time, it revolves around a “Burning Crusade” server.
Yesterday, the major US gaming site “GameSpot” reported under the headline “Legacy Server goes live today” about the WoW private server Felmyst, which is based in the USA.
Felmyst launched after an open beta. The special thing about Felmyst: The server aimed to bring back the “Burning Crusade” feel. Everything just like in 2007.
“Cease and desist” from Blizzard arrives
However, the fun did not last long. Felmyst apparently had “too much hype.”
Such private servers violate Blizzard’s copyright, which they want to protect at all costs. If a copyright can no longer be clearly associated with a brand in public, the company’s rights to that brand weaken. At least, that’s Blizzard’s argument.
Simply put: If Coca-Cola does not ensure that no one else calls their soft drink “Coca Cola,” then soon everyone can name it that way. So companies have to protect their rights to keep them.
When such copyright violations become as public as in the case of Felmyst, the pressure on Blizzard to take action is immense.
Meanwhile, the Felmyst server is already down again. Blizzard has achieved this with a “cease and desist”. On the Felmyst website, there is a photo of this cease and desist.
The creator is devastated – the project gave meaning to his life
The person behind the project, Gummy, justifies himself for these series of events. One wonders from the outside: “He must have seen this coming. What happened?”
Gummy had felt for some time that he was drawing Blizzard’s attention with his project. Especially after what happened last year (Nostalrius), Gummy realized that things looked bad for him. However, he did not want to give up the project because he had already invested so much time.
The fans apparently wonder: “Why didn’t you leave the USA, where Blizzard has so much power, and go to a country where you can operate the server?” To this, Gummy replies that he cannot do that due to his health situation. According to his statements, Gummy suffers from muscular dystrophy, a hereditary disease that leads to muscle wasting. He cannot take care of himself.
When posed with the looming question of why he didn’t try to contain the hype, Gummy answers: “There is no middle ground. If people think the server will be too small, they ignore it completely and it becomes unplayable.”
Gummy sounds dejected in his statement. The project has given meaning to the last four years of his life.
The first rule of private servers: Don’t appear on GameSpot
Mein MMO thinks: If private servers are known in “insider circles,” discussed in small forums, and everything happens behind closed doors, then Blizzard might be able to ignore or tolerate it. However, when GameSpot, the epitome of gaming mainstream, reports on it, that is no longer the case.
Many fans of private servers want to share their luck with everyone, talk about it in forums, and ask for articles on the topic on gaming sites: By doing so, they are not doing the servers any favors.
Perhaps private server communities should take a cue from the rules of the Fight Club: “You don’t talk about it.”
A similar drama unfolded in 2016 around a classic server:
