Blizzard legal targets private servers
by Alex Ziebart 
Dec 5th 2008 at 5:30PM
Privately run WoW servers have been dropping like flies in the last day or so after receiving letters from Blizzard's lawyers under the DMCA. They've been shut down so quickly and rapidly that it's being heralded as "the end of private servers" by quite a few people. The biggest and most well known servers such as Toxic WoW and Ani-WoW are more or less all gone already, and it seems that it's only a matter of time before the smaller ones go down as well. Supposedly, this letter has a pretty long list of sites and servers that are to be taken down.Some of these sites have just called it a day, shut down their servers and will move on with their lives, but a few others are already talking about starting them back up elsewhere, 'underground.' It's the internet, and at this point, that just seems silly. Blizzard is watching, and it seems this issue has moved up a notch on their priority list. My advice? Don't tempt fate.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Arras Dec 5th 2008 5:36PM
Good. I really don't see the point of a private server, other than putting your account at greater risk for being hacked and/or banned.
Tweeder Dec 5th 2008 5:58PM
Your comment made no sense in the least. You go to a url and make a account. Within 5 minutes it's ready to go. You obviously don't use your legit Blizzard login. They don't alter your WOW Client at all, how again do they get your info?
Also, how exactly does Blizzard ban a person for using a private server? The client never connects to Blizzard, instead it uses the new realmlist.wtf file path. That's like saying MSN will ban me if I use AOL.
Please actually know what your speaking of before you start typing.
Drakkenfyre Dec 5th 2008 6:02PM
"Please actually know what your speaking of before you start typing."
Because the game keeps a record of the last login location you used. If you connect to the official servers using your account after using a private server, they can tell where you connected, and can ban you if they want, lol.
Nick S Dec 5th 2008 6:32PM
Sorry, Drakkenfyre, I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.
The servers keep a record of the IP you log in from, yes, but that provides no evidence whatsoever of having connected to a private server. I've never heard anything that would indicate a record of the last server connection you made using a World of Warcraft client.
Quark1020 Dec 5th 2008 6:41PM
The only real danger with private servers is that you dont know what exacly is in the software you download from these sites untill you install it, and it could have anything. Still, this is just paranoia that i've had since people started getting identities stolen and whatnot, and its true about anything you download off the internet.
Drakkenfyre Dec 5th 2008 6:42PM
Look in your game folder. There is a file that lists the last location logged into.
Drakkenfyre Dec 5th 2008 6:43PM
And I don't mean the last location you logged in from, lol.
Firestride Dec 5th 2008 7:04PM
A friend of mine tried out a private server for a couple days during transitioning from a free trial to actually buying WoW. It wasn't very good, but that friend never suffered any consequences for his or her dalliance.
Brent aka Tearitup Dec 5th 2008 8:00PM
Drakkenfyre
That file can be cleaned out upon connecting to official Blizzard servers. I have played on private servers for a while mainly because I do not have the necessary monthly fees to keep a legit account going. You pretty much change one file, and login to the private server. Nothing is changed as everything from that point on is server side.
Jason Dec 5th 2008 11:01PM
you use a different wow install for private servers. One install is set to connect to those servers and you have a separate install to connect to the official servers.
You don't connect to private and official servers with the same client. That would be stupid.
It's fine and you can't get caught that way.
How do you think most machinama gets made? On private servers.
Aeneas Dec 6th 2008 7:48AM
@Jason:
"How do you think most machinama gets made? On private servers. "
I believe that there is a huge differance between a private serveur on a home computer to make a machinama and a server set up to host WoW free for hundreds of people.
Don't you?
Lightleggy Dec 6th 2008 3:51PM
you guys are retarded!
there are people who are not rich as you who must play private servers because they cant afford playing retail!
dumbasses "if you want to get your account hacked go to a private server"
if you want to learn more about a private server go play on one dumbass! your accounts rarely gets hacked, but it also happens on retail!!!
Arcanon Dec 7th 2008 7:49AM
Are you that thick? The points is playing for free! Of course, it will never be like retail, but I'm not paying 13€ a month for a game!!!
Jonas M Luster Dec 6th 2008 9:55PM
> Sorry, Drakkenfyre, I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.
This seems precisely be the way this works. It's not the client-IP that is stored and sent to Blizzard by Warden, it's the _server_ IP. So if you, say, connect to 192.168.0.70 or whatever your home private server is, Blizzard might take notice.
Now, in the case of private IP space, there's more than one reason (you could connect to a tunnel to the outside), but in the case of public, non-RFC-1918-space, all Blizzard needs to do is check the IP and then, automagically, ban anyone whose outgoing IP record contains that IP. Simple and fast.
Duma Dec 20th 2008 5:17PM
Blizzard shut them down because most, if not all, of them were profiting from their players and deserved to be shut down.
I know Toxic and WoWScape sure as hell took "donations" in exchange for GM and pvp gear. Those sites made thousands of dollars.
All the sites that I know of that got shut down didn't even run encounter scripts so no big loss there. The admins were simply running a full scale profit setup with no care about actually providing a true to live server.
Izadore Jan 14th 2009 11:40AM
Dude - You don't have to give your original WoW account information to the private server that you deside to play on.
You just have to make an new account, like.. wowinsider332.. And then some password that you would like!
Blizzard can't hunt you down because you played private servers!
It sucks to be honest! I enjoyed some private servers. They shouldn't have done it!
Damage Jan 29th 2009 12:51AM
arras your an idiot, its a private server meaning you dont have to pay and you can get hacked just as easily as a real one, blizzard had almost no controle over private servers untill the January 3.0.8 patch came out, so they cant bann you from a private server, and now that the new patch is out, i think that has like err umm blocked out all the private ones,
Kira Dec 5th 2008 5:41PM
Alot of private servers allow you to do things you normally can't do on retail. Some people just like the opportunity to fool around and hit max level in an hour or so. That, and most of the people I know that play on private servers also play retail, and the ones that don't have retail are because they don't have enough money for it.
Of course, as far as I'm concerned, whatever I buy is mine to do with as I will... if you don't want people using the client for whatever they want, keep it all server side and distribute a client you dont mind people sharing. The emulated servers are just that, emulations, not the actual blizz server software, just what others have come up with to do the same job on their own time.
Kaphik Dec 5th 2008 6:15PM
Correct, what you BUY is yours. You don't buy the software, technically, you only buy the license for it's use. The software remains property of the developer, and you only get to use it after you agree to certain terms. Look into it, almost off software is not yours to use as you will, just licensed to you.
Aeneas Dec 6th 2008 7:54AM
"whatever I buy is mine to do with as I will... "
Ah... I've bought a load of DVDs. Can I copy them and give them to friends?
I have a car, can I drive too fast and park in the middle of the road?
I have music cd's I bought, can I put them free on my website?
When you buy WoW the details are explained on the box. Self-justification by such statements are pointless and worthless.
If you wish to use a private realm, just have the courage to say "it's wrong but I don't care"
Don't justify