Despite being shut down earlier this year, both PvP and PvE versions of the Nostalrius server will be relaunched under the title of Elysium on December 17th at 12pm EST.
All previous characters from Nostalrius will be preserved, and a fresh start server will be launched slightly afterwards for those interested in starting over. Additional information about the launch is coming later this week, according to the team’s Twitter.
Perhaps the most famous and “Blizzard-like” of the World of Warcraft private servers, Nostalrius was at the centre of the legacy server discussion that has ensued this year. The shutdown sparked a large public outcry, demanding that Blizzard release an official legacy server or allow the fan-made server to continue.
The reasons for people desiring vanilla WoW servers are manifold, but the most common complaint is the idea of server community and identity. With the addition of many cross-server features in Warcraft, many players feel that this is now non-existent, whereas Nostalrius was able to offer this in its place.
Such a large outcry garnered an official response, and Blizzard reached out to the Nostalrius team to meet and discuss legacy servers with them. While the discussions went favourably, there have still been no official announcements of a Blizzard-backed legacy server, even at BlizzCon 2016.
As such, Nostalrius has chosen to make their move and re-open, combining with the existing Elysium private servers to restore their Blizzard-like vanilla server this month.
However, regardless of personal feelings on the subject, keep in mind that Blizzard was well within their rights to shut down the project when they did so. Despite being a non-profit project, Nostalrius has no claim to World of Warcraft, and use of code such as this absolutely must be followed up by Blizzard to preserve their trademark integrity.
Whatever kind of goodwill Nostalrius garnered with Blizzard over the recent discussions, they still have no claim to this and have no official backing from the company. As such, it’s almost certain that Blizzard will act on this and issue another shutdown order, probably much sooner than later.
In addition, one could argue that the large outcry was made during Warlords of Draenor, arguably the least well-received expansion in WoW‘s history. By contrast, Legion is doing much better by most accounts, and has managed to maintain a more stable player count. So that may affect player backing of the server as well.
Whether this is the case or not, this won’t stop Elysium from attempting to make their mark and start the debate anew. So, if you’re interested in joining the community and experiencing legacy World of Warcraft for yourself, you can visit the Elysium Project’s website and see what it’s all about.
Where do you stand on the legacy server debate? Will you give Elysium a shot, either as an existing WoW player or a newcomer? Share your thoughts in the comments!
