However, there are tremendous operational challenges to integrating classic servers, not to mention the ongoing support of multiple live versions for every aspect of WoW.” If we could push a button and all of this would be created, we would. We explored options for developing classic servers and none could be executed without great difficulty. And while we’ve looked into the possibility - there is not a clear legal path to protect Blizzard’s IP and grant an operating license to a pirate server. This applies to anything that uses WoW‘s IP, including unofficial servers. “Why not just let Nostalrius continue the way it was? The honest answer is, failure to protect against intellectual property infringement would damage Blizzard’s rights. “From active internal team discussions to after-hours meetings with leadership, this subject has been highly debated.”
“We have been discussing classic servers for years - it’s a topic every BlizzCon - and especially over the past few weeks,” he said. Allen Brack wrote that recent “silence on this subject definitely doesn’t reflect our level of engagement and passion around this topic. Predictably, that move has led to even more support for the server as word has spread and players have rallied. The fan-run vanilla World of Warcraft server Nostalrius gained enough attention that Blizzard took notice and issued a cease and desist earlier this month, prompting its shutdown.
