What do you guys think of playing on private servers?

I prefer private servers that give you x2 XP gain, which makes it significantly faster but doesn't outdo the XP gain. Of course, you have to try different ones out and see if the quests or mechanics are broken or not, but once in a while you find a gem in the rough.

 

I've already did it for fun. Started at level 80 and just pvp'd and cleared some dungeons with the best gear available. But it gets boring really fast.

 

I can see why some people choose to play on them but personally I have never really liked them. So no private servers for me.

 

Not, for me. I think it's best to stick with the default servers mang.

 

I prefer private servers their are servers that like playing on the real deal only with less bots and people on those servers you hardly ever hear about someone getting hacked.

 

That is true. Alot less hacking of Private Server accounts because they arn't worth anywhere near as much. You do have that security.

 

There are some legit private servers that are extremely popular. For example the Feenix server is really popular and on many occasions I've thoughts on getting 1 alt there just for fun. The server is with lvl 60 max lvl basically the Vanilla. In my opinion back then the game was at it's best or second best(TBC possibly best). If you want to experience 40 man raids or some real PvP like in the classic then private servers are definitely great for that.
There are other servers that are TBC only, WotLK, Cata... The most popular private servers have normal xp leveling as well. Basically they are what the game used to be at that part of the game's history. It's great if you ask me, what's more they are free.

 

Hate it. Couple of friends that can't afford a real WoW subscription convinced me to play WoW with them in a private server and I just hated it. You don't feel like playing the real WoW. It doesn't have a lot of players and your effort is not going anywhere because it's not the real thing. I mean thats how I see it. I get more motivated to level up and play PvP on the real one than the private server.

 

It depends on the private server. Most of them are bug-ridden and with too small of a playerbase for there to be any kind of fun in it, but well-run, active servers exist which are fun to play, and the main reason you should consider one is, you can play different expansions on them, so if I want to go back to the Vanilla or TBC days, it is easily doable. Or I might feel like pvping at high-end arenas or battlegrounds, so instant max level, and you are ready to roll, without having to deal with tedious leveling and grinding.

 

Well said. As for the player base, yes some are with small player base, however for example if you are looking for PvE experience having 1 guild with players to play with is plenty in my opinion.
Also just to verify something about the player base. The more popular private servers have 10-20k player base which is HUGE. The highest populated EU realm Silvermoon at the moment have 16482(not characters, but accounts - http://www.wowprogress.com/realms/rank/eu)
Now while it's true that you can play with even more people through the cross-realm function on a server like Silvermoon(that's where I play btw) you don't really need it because there is plenty of people.
Imagine a private server with 20k players... that's enough people for PvE, PvP(BGs/Arenas/World PvP) and everything else you might want to do.

 

Definitely not my cup of tea. I prefer to support the developers. If the game is worth playing, then it's worth the money I fork out for it. If it's not worth my time, then I wouldn't bother with it at all.

I'm a software developer myself, so I know the work it takes to make a game. It doesn't justify pirating something just because the game sucks. If it sucks, stop playing it. If it's too expensive, get something else.

 

I have played on and hosted a private server. I have also played the normal WoW. I just played on a private server to see what the possibilities were and to get to places I would never get to. I have single handedly defeated the biggest bosses and went everywhere I could. I was just nice to see where everything was.

 

Private servers could be a lot of fun. I like to play an all GM server.

 

I like to play on private servers because if you don't have much time (like me) you can just go on a funserver, make a character and in 10 minutes you can experience everything a max-level would experience, but if you plan on playing for a long time, go for the real deal. I played A LOT on private servers that were said to be "blizzlike" (1x everything, nothing changed) and not once I woke up one day with no characters because they had a DB problem or a patch detroyed it.

 

I haven't tried out private servers myself but I've done some research. From everything I've read about it, private servers sound like they're extremely buggy compared to Blizzard servers and it gets boring very fast.

 

Really it depends. The servers for the new expansions are heavily littered with glitches and other issues. However they do have larger player-bases. Something unique to playing private servers, however, is the ability to play older expansions of the game and I do really enjoy playing BC a lot more than anything after it. As such, I actually have a private server saved on my PC that is closed to the public that I play on just to kill time every once in a while. It's pretty much bug-free so that's also a bonus.

 

Feenix and VanillaGaming were awesome before they made it 15x leveling speed. What's the point lol? You're going to skip so much content leveling that you're basically creating an instant 60. Sad but just the way it goes I guess.

 

Even though I've never played on a private server myself, I think this is the great thing about private servers. Being able to experience the old content in it's original form is pretty awesome, especially for people who feel a particular fondness for a certain expansion (as most people seem to have with vanilla and TBC). I wonder if Blizzard has ever considered implementing a way for people to play the game "rolled back" to a certain expansion, including things like talent trees, spells and abilities and dungeons and zones. I suppose they just want as many people as possible playing the latest version of the game, but it's kind of a shame that some things about World of Warcraft that a lot of people loved are pretty much lost forever.

 

Wouldn't be my thing now I have to say. I like the experience of a packed server, with the only down point being the beggers and AH prices.