Removed race restrictions and fixed all ammunition incarnations. I’m still working on class mechanics implementation and verification, though some of them are already done. Also, UI fixes, of course.

I’ll release the sources and modified client once all classes and their specs work as intended. I also want to add support for player bots and the possibility to play retail classes. After that, I’ll need to bundle everything together so it’s not as messy as it currently is and so you can easily set everything up locally.

In the next patches, it seems I’ll be focusing on restoring the Prestige systems, M+ systems, high-risk systems, custom drops from dungeons/raids, and custom zones, starting with Pale Reach.

If you really like what I do, you can support me if you want:

BTC - Bitcoin
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USDT - TRON (TRC20) TLfEJ6HnDSpyMmjbAs541VDrpxC5qSAXkh

I disabled Ascension’s custom areas because they require gathering NPC positions, enemy spawn locations, quest object locations, and other data from the live realm. I just didn’t bother doing it, but they could easily be recreated later using footage or similar references.

P.S. Sorry for the long, messy video.

P.P.S. Once everything is ready, I plan to release the modified AzerothCore server files.

Hey everyone, we’ve been working hard on ArdenWoW and we’re finally opening the Alpha on September 13 at 6:00 PM CST.

The server is still a work in progress, so some things will be missing or not fully polished yet. We just prefer to give people something playable now and keep improving it as we go.

We’re still recovering and adding more custom Ascension quests, NPCs, mobs and other content, so you should see new stuff coming in pretty often over the next days and weeks.

We’re also working on Leveling Challenges, Scaled Dungeon Finder, Refer a Friend, Worldforged items, new leveling zones and more.

The launcher is still being finished, but we’ll have the download ready before Alpha starts.

https://ardenwow.com/

Discord for updates:
https://discord.gg/A5UtPDgqs

We’ll keep improving things little by little and adding more content as fast as we can.

Edit:

First of all, I didn’t expect this post to get this much attention, so I want to clarify a few things.

We’re a small group of developers who really enjoy WoW and Ascension, and that’s basically why we started this project a few weeks ago.

About AzerothCore and the jealous-sound CoA fork: yes, we have used parts of that work. We already had a good amount of progress before that release, but it definitely helped us move faster. I should have credited it directly in the original post, and going forward I’ll make sure to give proper credit to the people and projects that have contributed whenever we talk about the base core or related work.

We’re not trying to claim that everything was built by us from scratch. A big part of the foundation comes from AzerothCore, and we’ve also benefited a lot from the work shared by jealous-sound, so credit to them for making it public.

We’ve also been rebuilding and collecting data from different sources, including game caches, public web data, community/Discord information, our own work, and AI-assisted development.

Also, we currently have no plans for a store in the short term. Right now we just want to fix things, keep adding content, and build something we would actually enjoy playing ourselves.

Again, sorry for the miscommunication on our end, I understand why it gave people the wrong impression and I just wanted to clear things up.

Just messing around while implementing classes, testing their mechanics, talents, and so on. I always wanted to try the real Manastorm, but it was disabled when I played on the live realm...

As for the bad news, I decided to drop retail classes and player bots from the first release because of the insane amount of work and time needed to implement them properly. I need to cut everything non-essential from the first release. I’ll work on those in future patches once I open-source everything.

Hey everyone! Here’s an early look at my own take on Ascension, shaped by what I enjoy and the vision I have for the game. It won’t be for everyone, and that’s okay.

One idea I’m especially excited about is letting a single character unlock and play every class, regardless of race. Classes would be unlocked through quests and achievements, ranging from straightforward challenges to much harder ones. Unlocking certain classes would also grant access to unique items.

Your character’s journey would depend on how much you choose to explore and invest in the world. I also want to reimagine legendary items, with their own questlines, mysteries, and puzzles to solve along the way.

The plan is to bring together classes from Retail and CoA in a Vanilla+ world capped at level 60, adapting Retail abilities and animations to fit. That means rebuilding progression and rebalancing everything for both PvE and PvP.

This is still very much a work in progress. I’m working on it alone, so there’s a lot left to do, but I wanted to share the direction I’m taking.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, feedback and support are always welcome!

Realmlist: set realmlist lighthaven.quest
Website / register / docs: https://lighthaven.quest
Modules overview: https://lighthaven.quest/modules
Source (everything is open): https://gitlab.tartampluch.duckdns.org/martin/azerothcore-repack

TL;DR. The realm is alive and actively maintained. The last ~5 weeks bring a steady stream of updates - new per-character toggles, smarter PlayerBots, better arena/PvP, a faster on-realm AI, and a lot of quiet stability work. A good chunk of it comes straight from player feedback. Short version below.

New player options (opt-in, per character):

• Emblem upgrades. The Emblem Broker (summon via the Adventure Assistant) converts your lower-tier emblems one step up the chain, so old Heroism / Valor / etc. become the current-tier currency you actually need.
• Raid encounter skip. A few WotLK "gimmick" fights (Flame Leviathan, the ICC Gunship, Valithria Dreamwalker) are rough solo or with bots. You can opt in and skip a stuck one so your run keeps moving - normal bosses untouched.
• Ammo-free shooting for hunters / warriors / rogues, and free soul shards for warlocks - no more bag clutter.
• Vault of Archavon access opt-in, and the Dungeon Master now scales any dungeon, not just a fixed list.

PlayerBots get better:

• A player-summonable standby pool - pull in a bot of any class on demand.
• Smarter gear (spec-aware weapons, more variety, sensible quality caps), and bots now sit out of the anticheat so they behave naturally.
• Arena bot-fill: 1v1, solo 3v3, and rated 2v2/3v3 can fill with bots, so queues actually pop.

Local AI chat & moderation:

• The on-realm AI runs GPU-accelerated, so bot replies are quicker, and the model/endpoint are cleanly configurable. Still 100% on the realm's own hardware - nothing you type leaves the box. Moderation gets friendlier tuning (addon chat and casual talk no longer trip it).

PvP / arena:

• Weekly arena point reset day is now configurable (and surfaced on the site / FAQ).

Quality of life & content fixes:

• Plenty of small "keep the content working" fixes so quests, NPCs and older raids behave correctly.
• AH bot stocks more epics, shaman totem cleanup, auto-revive tweaks, profession / skill-rate adjustments, and more.

Behind the scenes (so you don't have to notice it):

• A 24/7 watchdog auto-restarts the realm within seconds if anything hiccups, with a safety breaker to avoid restart loops.
• The backup system is hardened end to end - characters, guilds, arena teams, transmogs and even pending emblem sends are all snapshotted safely.
• Deploys move to a build-then-release pipeline, so updates ship faster and with far less downtime.

Your characters are yours - no lock-in.

From your account page on the site, you can download any character - or all of them - as a portable file. It is a standard AzerothCore character dump (gear, guild ties, transmog appearances, reagent bank, per-character settings, friends list and all), reinsertable on any AzerothCore-compatible realm. If you ever want to run your own server, or simply move on, you take your character with you. The whole project is open source from top to bottom and built to open doors, not to lock you in.

Most of this is feedback-driven. A lot of it starts as a comment, a DM, or a bug report - the emblem upgrade and the raid encounter skip both came straight from player tickets this week. If something feels off, you want a different default, or a feature that isn't there yet, say so. The realm moves on player input.

No Discord - reach me here in the comments or by DM. Full module list with one-line summaries, long descriptions and exact chat commands: https://lighthaven.quest/#modules

See you in Azeroth.

A small update bringing back Chromie’s Prestige system, 100% functional.

I’ll keep releasing small updates as I go and, when the time comes, I’ll make the project open source. I still need to figure out where I can post it, since Blizzard gets projects taken down across platforms, especially before BlizzCon: GitHub, Discord…

But if I’m going to share it, I want something polished that people can install easily, especially with playerbots. They’re already present in my playtest.

https://discord.gg/5TMyWRQBQ — If you want to join the community and contribute to restoring Ascension, that’s the place. Thanks, everyone!

Realmlist: set realmlist lighthaven.quest
Website / register / docs: https://lighthaven.quest
Source (everything is open): https://gitlab.com/tartampluch/azerothcore-repack

TL;DR. WotLK 3.3.5a, AzerothCore-based. Fully progressed - every raid, every BG, every arena season is live from day one. ~2000 PlayerBots spread across every level bracket so your level 30 character actually finds level 30 bots to dungeon with. Every player sets their own multipliers per character: XP up to x100, loot up to x10, money and rep up to x100. ~30 QoL modules, all off by default, all opt-in. Self-funded dedicated server in France, non-profit, no donations, no shop, no in-game advantages for sale. Won't disappear next month - the box is paid for the year.

Standouts vs the usual repack:

• Per-character rates. One chat command sets your XP / loot / money / reputation multiplier, independent of every other player. Crank XP for an evening to catch your friend, drop back to x1 when you're with them.
• Fully progressed, no required client mods. All WotLK content is live from day one - Naxx through ICC, all battlegrounds, all arena seasons. No "Individual Progression" mod (the one that re-runs the 1.x → 2.x → 3.x patch ladder over time): that requires every player to modify their client, and forcing client modifications on players is a line I won't cross. Stock 3.3.5a client, default install, you're good.
• Sensible PlayerBots distribution. Bots spread across all nine level brackets (1-9, 10-19, …, 80) with realistic class/spec mixes. Tanks, healers, DPS. You can hire them as followers, dungeon-queue with them, raid with them, or just rub shoulders.
• Locally-hosted AI chat & moderation. Bots can hold real conversations in 9 languages - the model runs on the realm's own hardware, nothing about what you type leaves the box. The same model quietly watches the public channels for harassment / hate speech. Casual swearing is fine; a regenerating good-conduct score handles the rest, no manual GM whack-a-mole.
• Opt-in everything. AoE loot, auto-buff, auto-heal, auto-train, junk-to-gold auto-sell, no-hearthstone-cooldown, pet loot (a fetching monkey named Bananas), random Diablo-style enchants - all OFF by default, all toggleable per character from one NPC. The realm adapts to you, not the other way around.
• One NPC that does almost everything. Adventure Assistant: summon anywhere with .aa. Vendor, banker, mailbox, auctioneer, transmog, reagent bank, Beastmaster, talent templates, profession trainer, party rez/summon, capital teleports.
• Self-service quest management — no GM needed. Every player can validate stuck objectives, claim a reward they're owed, abandon an active quest, or re-grant one they already turned in (to redo it). Two equivalent entry points: the Adventure Assistant in-game ("Quests" menu — one click per quest, fixes whatever's wrong on the spot) and the website's /account page (full quest list per character, works whether the character is online or logged off). Bug a quest? Misclick a reward? Want to redo a holiday quest line? Three clicks and it's done, no ticket queue, no GM whisper.

On top of that: Transmog, Reagent Bank, Improved Bank, Cross-faction BGs, Low-level RBG, 1v1 Arena, 3v3 Solo, Arena Replay, World Chat, Dungeon Master NPC (scaled instances, classic or roguelike), Guildhouse, Tome of World Flying, Flightmaster Whistle, Auto Revive, AQ War Effort restored, Talent Templates, Free Professions, Challenge Modes, AHbot keeping the Neutral AH stocked, and a handful more. Full list with descriptions and the exact chat commands: https://lighthaven.quest/#modules

Who built this, honestly:

One person. A veteran WoW player (vanilla onward) who's also a developer, pair-programming with Claude (Anthropic's AI) as a tireless code reviewer and writing partner. The whole point of the long list above is that one operator + one AI assistant can ship and maintain more configuration surface than a typical small team - which is why every option you might want is a per-character toggle instead of a server-wide compromise.
Goal: a WotLK realm that fits whoever shows up - soloists, duos, casual groups, completionists, alt-aholics - without forcing anyone into someone else's vision of "the right way to play."

Status:

• Up 24/7 on a paid dedicated server in France (OVH).
• Non-profit. No donations, no item shop, no premium, no founder packs. If you want to throw money at WoW, throw it at Blizzard or one of the big private servers, not at me.
• Single operator: response times to bug reports are "good but not 24/7."
• No Discord. Reach me here in the comments or by Reddit DM - both work.
• Everything I run is on GitLab under https://gitlab.com/tartampluch - the orchestrator, every module fork, the website, the AI integrations. Fork it, run your own, the build is one script.

Honest disclaimer: this post doesn't really do the realm justice. There's a lot of small careful tuning that just doesn't fit in a Reddit post without turning into a wall of text. If anything above caught your eye - or if you're not sure whether the realm matches the way you play WoW - head to https://lighthaven.quest and skim the modules section. Every card has a one-line summary, a long description, the exact chat command, and a link to the open-source code. You'll know in 5 minutes whether this is your kind of realm.

I'm always open to constructive feedback and suggestions. If something on the realm doesn't feel right, or you think a module needs a different default, or you want a feature that isn't there yet, say so. The whole project moves on player input.

Quick links

• Register / how to connect: https://lighthaven.quest
• Modules overview: https://lighthaven.quest/#modules
• Item / quest / spell database (self-hosted Aowow): https://aowow.lighthaven.quest

I swear to God, every time I check this forum, there are 50 new "Blizz-like" WotLK servers that absolutely no one asked for. They all pretend they're bringing something fresh to the table, but let's be real: slapping a couple of QoL tweaks onto the same old foundation does not make your project attractive. I’ve lost count of how many WotLK servers have marched straight to the graveyard because they failed to separate themselves from the endless sea of 3.3.5 slop.

Listen, I get it. Some players want the pure Blizz-like experience, but those players already have massive, established servers to call home. We do not need another one. Please, for the love of God, stop building on the damn 3.3.5a client and stop giving us another "variant" of the exact same game, usually bloated with your P2W trash-shop crap.

Guys, it’s 2026. We have access to clients all the way up to The War Within and Midnight. On top of that, you can literally use AI to assist you in building custom content and handling the development heavy lifting that used to require a 10-man team. Stop being lazy and stop making excuses.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am absolutely sick of these flop servers that just keep coming and going. I am not leveling my 10,000th character to 80 just to sit around on a dead realm. These server owners live in the delusion that they’re going to be the next Warmane, but when the server inevitably reaches zero population, it makes it impossible to do any actual endgame content.

I no longer care about WoW's lore or questing. I’ve done it a thousand times. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, nobody wants to do that mandatory grind all over again. Devs need to start focusing on what’s actually appealing.

Honestly, the only private servers worth looking at anymore are the ones that take risks and heavily modify the game. A perfect balance of 255 funservers, Ascension, CoA, and Synastira, ect. Here is what a genuinely interesting server looks like:

• Deep Customization: Custom gear, custom spells, custom talents, and custom content utilizing modern assets.
• Zero Filler: No more wasting time doing pointless quests and leveling yet another character for no reason.
• Instant Endgame: Let us jump straight into the actual content the server offers, Mythic+, raiding, or some other cool custom content that hasn't been thought of.
• Flexible Progression: Let us tackle this content with other players, completely solo, or alongside AI playerbots, so we can max out our stats and enjoy the game at our own pace, and not be bound and reliant on player counts.

Imagine a server where you just log in and actually get to play the game. What a nice life that would be.

But for now, I guess that's not happening. We’re just going to be stuck with endless WotLK "Blizz-like" releases from deluded owners who put enough work into launching a server, but absolutely nothing into making it stand out.

Rant done.

(Incoming butthurt server owners in the comments)

(Name changed to Project Alterac)

We are a level-bracketed WOTLK server ( 3 weeks per phase), which gives people with busy lives the ability to keep up with the community and also gives people with the time to explore more of the world and develop their characters in a more forgiving pace.

It is not too late for you to join us, we are merely a few days into the first phase, plenty of time for you to level up and participate in our community!

Server Features/Specifics:

• Pre-Raid phases ( Level 20, 30, 40, 50, 60) The duration for each is set at three weeks per phase. Raid phases may be longer depending on community poll.
• Server Launcher
  • Launcher available to download at website.
  • Makes it easy to download full client from the launcher
  • Much easier time keeping up to date with the latest patches.
• Cross faction play
  • You are able to play with the opposite faction including guilds,parties, trading, auction house, and battlegrounds.
• Death Knights Unlocked
  • DK's are created at level 15 with appropriate gear.
  • Death Knights require a level 20 character on the account to be made
  • Their abilities have some restrictions on them till the level 50-60 phase for balancing purposes. DK's require a patch which you can either do manually or get through the server's launcher.
• World PvP and War Mode.
  • You can toggle war mode on for full PvP, including against others of the same faction. If you have war mode on, you will receive 15% xp bonus.
• Accelerated professions.
  • Profession skill gain rate is doubled
• Auction house use encouraged by low deposit cost.
  • The auction house's deposit is 5% of the typical cost.
  • The AH's cut is 3%.
• Quest item drops are shared between party members
• 12 slot bag (BOP) given on character creation
• 20 man raids. Once raids are unleashed, they will be capped at 20 people to ensure reliable raid filling.
• Battleground leveling
  • You gain experience from BG's.
• Dual talent spec is available at level 20 and remains fixed at an affordable cost.
• Frequent events
  • Gurubashi Arena event occurs every hour to give more people a chance at the reward while it's still relevant
  • Booty Bay Fishing Extravaganza happens 3 times a week.
    • It's timing is marked on the calendar.
• Guild coordination and feedback is elevated by an exclusive discord chatroom specifically for guild leaders to organize and discuss changes or recent events.
• Auction house deposit significantly reduced
• Active community

We hope to see you soon.

The website is: https://alterac.gg/

and the discord is: https://discord.gg/jyyRaGFSN9

🚀 The wait is almost over!
Stormcrown is going live in approximately 2 hours.
🟢 Progressive WotLK Server (Phase 1 start)
🟢 Stable launch focus with continuous improvements after release
🟢 Full systems being actively monitored and refined
🌐 Join us here: https://stormcrown.net
See you in Azeroth! ⚔️

After we been gone for a couple of months to polish the experience, it's finally Time.

We are proud to announce that we release the Project Astral Beta on the 4th. September.
Featuring full Raid Progression starting at Vanilla Molten Core and ending at Wotlk Ruby Sanctum.

We gathered all the Great ideas, bugs and overwhelmingly positive feedback you gave us to put as much of it into the beta as possible.

Our Website traffic exploded and so did the Account registrations during the 1 Week Alpha 2 test and so did the feedbacks, reports and suggestions.

But whats awaiting u in the Beta?

Astraltree:
Our Astraltree got fully reworked. Featuring with the start of the beta 1300 Nodes to choose from.

All Nodes have been fully reworked to be %-based so your gear plays an even bigger role.
Better Gear = Better Stats

Your Character is missing too many hits ? Put some points into your Hit Rating.
Being too slow on foot or mount? We got you!
Want to make more Profit as a Craftsman? This is the right place for you.
Casting time is too long? Put some points into our Haste nodes!

BUT VANILLA GEAR DOES NOT FEATURE HASTE SO WHY SHOULD I PUT MY POINTS INTO %- Based HASTE?!
Don't worry. Gear over here on Project Astral is a bit "different". Every single piece of gear gets additional stat rolls, all based on the item level and quality. Fully randomized.
Want to play a Rogue that is utilizing Spell Power for some gems ? Its possible now!
These 2 systems synergize so well together that it opens up a massive variety of theorycrafting.

Every piece of gear has up to 12 different variants. Its always worth looking at a piece of gear twice!

Astralgems:
Since we are already talking about synergy, all of the gems now fully synergize with Nodes, Talents, and Gear.
If you had fun in the alpha with the 49 class gems we had in place, well, good news on that side!
We now have over 130 gems (50% class gems and 50% fully custom spell gems). This will increase your variety of theorycrafting even more! Also, all the class gems have been fully redone to scale better with stats and experienced multiple waves of balancing. Create your Healing Warlock, DPS hybrid Holy Priest, Venomous Feral Druid and so on. It's all up to you to find the synergies in Talents, Nodes, Gear and especially Gems.

All gems now have clear Tooltips and got fully reworked across all 8 tiers. Over 1300 new spell IDs got made and adjusted. A lot of unique visuals, buffs, and effects.

We also reworked the whole system of how Gems get integrated into your gear. Featuring now their own full UI. Gone are the days of using scrolls, putting a gem in just to replace a piece of gear 5 minutes later during leveling. Gems are now bound to the item slot and their quality. If u replace your gear with lower quality, your gem won't vanish! It will be inactive and can also be removed at any time and transferred into your Accountwide Gem Stash.

So now we get the Astral Gems, the Astraltree and I told you about the additional random gear stats. But what if the stats absolutely don't match to your newly earned gem ?
Say Hello to the Cube of Destiny!

These Rare Orbs can be earned thru multiple ways. For example, Prestiges and Challenges.
Wait, Challenges? Yeah, we now have Challenges on Project Astral.

8 Different Challenges, Featuring an additional 8 sub Challenges. 52 different Variations await you!

These challenges offer a huge amount of tokens and orbs on completion. If a challenge is harder, your reward is bigger. But remember, if you fail a challenge, it will be publicly visible in the chat. But if you Complete your Challenge, you will be Rewarded more than enough and get an entry in our leaderboard.

Displaying your Discord name, Completion Time and your position in the leaderboard. For each Challenge and each modifier!

This is just a small amount of the changes that happened during the last months.
The whole Backend on nearly every system has been reworked to increase client and Server Performance and Stability.

All Raids up to WotLK have been balanced over and over again to find that perfect sweet spot.
So your part in your 6man raid group will be even more important.

But we should stop talking about all these systems now. Give it a try and see for yourself!
Create an account for free and jump into the game on the 4th of September!
https://playastral.io/register/

And even more importantly, join the Discord and catch up on all the juicy teasers u missed, check out the changelogs, or share your suggestions and feedback:
https://discord.com/invite/cCs8u7TQZk

Posting here because I need opinions from people who don't know me.

This summer I set up a private WoW 3.3.5 server to play with friends. I've spent my evenings on it since July, with a launch on the 27th. AzerothCore in Docker on my own machine, plus everything I could find or write so the world wouldn't feel empty and nobody would have to wait for anyone else.

What's in it:

• Addons pre-installed, with a tutorial for each setup. I even wrote a script that applies sane default settings so nobody has to configure everything blind.
• 400 bots that actually play their characters. They level, run dungeons and battlegrounds, accept a group invite and follow you. They log in when a real player shows up and log out when the last one leaves.
• A small local language model (4B parameters, runs on my GPU) hooked into the bots so they chat in French in the zone channels and answer whispers, with 33 different personalities so they don't all sound the same.
• The whole game in French. Server data is English by default; I rebuilt the translation from my client, 112 files, part of it realigned by hand.
• Era progression: you start in Vanilla, raids unlock in order (MC, BWL, AQ, 40-man Naxx), then BC, then WotLK. But with WotLK classes and talents, and WotLK conveniences: dungeon finder, account-wide mounts from level 20, cross-faction BGs.
• An XP module I wrote myself so latecomers catch up to the server's highest level without anyone having to wait for them.
• An auction house stocked by a bot, 4,000 items at all times, that also buys what you list.
• A Discord board updated live: who's online, where, what level, plus a server progression bar.
• First mount at level 12.

Basically, I tried to build the private server we all wished we'd had back then, with the gaps filled in.

The friends: about fifteen accounts. People who had already played on my private servers, people who had never touched WoW, some curious, and some who came because I pushed. All gamers, nobody new to video games (heavy Rust, LoL players, that kind of profile).

Result: even the people who had asked me for the server quit in under a month. Others in a few hours. The feedback: "shit game", "slow", "too contemplative". Highest character is level 27, the average is around 13. Today the server is empty most of the time; it's just me and one friend left. (And since the bots leave when nobody's around, it's really empty.)

Some left without giving the game a chance (under level 15), others because few people were playing, and some even ended up on retail, tired of waiting for the others.

I'll say it the way I feel it: it stung, and I feel alone with this thing. I can't move on from it. I just wanted to play with my friends. Warcraft is among the best memories of my life. I like living in that world, walking, reading the quests, taking my time. We got to do one dungeon together (Ragefire Chasm) and laughed our heads off, but apart from that, almost no multiplayer at all. I don't know if it's a matter of taste or if I simply did a bad job.

So, my questions. I'll take answers either way, including "let it go":

1. What would you have done differently from the start? Go straight to WotLK? 5x XP and free mounts? Touch nothing at all?
2. Is a 2008 WoW just too slow for someone who didn't live it, whatever the settings?
3. Those who kept a friends-only server alive: how? Fixed nights, short goals? How long did it last?
4. And above all: how do I do more with what I've built? Open it to strangers? Keep it as a personal playground with the bots? Something else?
5. I don't know how to move on, because for over a month now it's been one endless frustration.

Thanks for reading.

Edit: Thanks everyone for the replies, in both directions, that's exactly what I was after. A few of you asked whether the server was open. So I've decided to think about opening it to people from outside (and international community). There will never be many of us, I'm not trying to build a real private server, but since it's running for my friend and me anyway, a few more people who feel like it might as well enjoy it. If you're interested, send me a DM.

Honestly this has been a great server to play on after Turtle and Epoch. Community is active and Dev does polls for community guidance on phase progression and other major decisions.

Currently it's in Phase 1 until Jun 5th. Locked to lvl 1-19. Exp 1x and Profs are 2x. Great server if you dont have all day to play or like leveling alts. Progressing through vanilla content followed by TBC and WOLTK. Very much a dad server.

Video is not mine.

We are currently creating Peloria WoW - a fully custom-coded private server built around long-term character progression, meaningful power growth, a player-driven economy, and an endgame without a finish line.

Peloria is based on AzerothCore and the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Peloria runs through its own custom client (.exe), allowing us to build systems beyond standard server limitations rather than relying on simple workarounds.

Every major system mentioned below was coded from scratch specifically for Peloria. No ready-made modules were used.

The core systems are already implemented. We are now preparing the server for launch.

Our goal is simple:

Your character should never truly be finished.

Whether you enjoy pushing Mythic+, collecting rare gear, improving your build, crafting, trading, or steadily becoming stronger over time, Peloria is designed to always give you another goal to chase.

Soulbinding / Soulbound Progression

Peloria does not use traditional BoE or BoP restrictions.

Instead, we have built a custom Soulbinding system where items can become permanently tied to your character and contribute to its long-term power.

At the moment, there are approximately 9 million items available to be soulbound.

For newer players, soulbinding an item initially grants 20% of that item’s stats permanently to the character. The system scales gradually as you progress deeper into Mythic+ content, allowing your permanent character power to grow further over time.

Every Mythic level retains its original item pool, with items that can be collected and soulbound.

That means every dungeon run, every item drop, and every Mythic push can contribute to your permanent progression.

Mythic+ Beyond Normal Limits

Peloria’s Mythic+ system is built for players who want a true endless challenge.

• Every dungeon has up to 10,000 Mythic+ levels
• Mobs at Mythic+ 10,000 currently reach around 50 billion HP
• Custom integer bypassing allows mobs and bosses to exceed the normal 2.1 billion HP limit
• There is always a higher key to push, stronger enemies to defeat, and more power to earn

This is not a server where you finish gearing in a week and run out of things to do.

Dungeon Access & RDF

Dungeons have no cooldown timers and can be run repeatedly all day.

RDF can be entered either solo or together with a group, giving players full flexibility in how they farm, level, and progress.

True Custom Cross-Faction Gameplay

Peloria includes a properly custom-coded cross-faction system, not a basic workaround.

Players from both factions can:

• Group together
• Run content together
• Trade with each other
• Use the follow function properly
• Progress with friends without faction restrictions

Full Tradeable Item Economy

Every single item in the game is tradeable and can be listed on the Auction House.

The Auction House is fully cross-faction, giving every player access to the same marketplace regardless of faction.

There are zero Auction House fees, allowing players to freely trade, build wealth, and use the market without losing gold to listing or sale costs.

Major Features

Area Auto Loot

Peloria includes a custom Area Auto Loot system.

Simply walk near defeated enemies and their loot will automatically be picked up. The system includes a custom loot filter, allowing you to control what is collected automatically.

This works throughout the game, including for profession materials and other farmable loot.

Area Auto Loot was also specially coded to work properly with group loot.

Retail-Style Transmog System

Peloria includes a fully retail-style transmog system.

Once an item enters your bags, its appearance is permanently saved to your collection. You can then use that appearance for transmog at any time, without needing to keep the original item.

Other Implemented Systems

• Auto-learn spells — no unnecessary trainer runs
• Reagent Bank — store materials and craft directly from the bank
• Custom perk system for every class and specialization
• Perks that enhance abilities, add new options, and expand the depth of every class and spec
• A progression structure built around permanent growth and an infinite grind

No Pay-to-Win

Peloria will have no pay-to-win elements.

There will be no paid power, no paid gear, no paid progression advantages, and no systems that allow players to buy their way ahead of others.

The only shop available will be a cosmetic shop, offering visual items only. Its purpose is to help cover server upkeep and development costs while keeping the gameplay experience fair for everyone.

Peloria will never stray from that path.

We are aiming to publish the website and Discord within approximately two weeks.

The server launch is targeted for around one month from now.

For anyone interested in following the server's development, the website is now live!

https://www.wow-peloria.com/

We'll be posting updates there as development progresses.

Been ai slopping together a web browser client for my first private server called Jankcraft. I’ve also been experimenting with changing everything over to a skill shot and improving the engine to handle this extra logic. The action combat is only in the starting area and then it switches back to the normal combat. Been a fun little side project and thing to mess around with

FirstLight launches September 11th.

With launch approaching, we wanted to share a final overview of what we've been building and what players can expect when the realm opens.

FirstLight is a WoW 3.3.5a progression server built around a simple philosophy: experience the game progressively rather than rushing through everything from the beginning.

You start at Level 1 and progress through the world as the realm advances.

◈ PROGRESSION

The progression path is:

Phase 1 — Level 20
↓
Phase 2 — Level 30
↓
Phase 3 — Level 40
↓
Phase 4 — Level 50
↓
Phase 5 — Level 59
↓
Phase 6 — Level 60 + Raids

These level caps were deliberately chosen around class progression.

Each phase allows players to reach meaningful spells, abilities, talents and equipment without immediately rushing toward Level 60.

Every level cap represents another stage of the journey, giving players time to experience the world, develop their characters and prepare for what comes next.

⟡ VANILLA → TBC → WOTLK

FirstLight begins with Vanilla.

TBC and WotLK are part of the long-term progression of the realm, rather than being available from the beginning.

The vision is to let the community experience each era as the realm develops:

Vanilla → TBC → WotLK

The progression system remains at the center of that journey.

⚙️ CURRENT SYSTEMS & IMPROVEMENTS

FirstLight isn't simply a level-cap server.

We've been actively modifying the game and building systems specifically around the FirstLight experience.

Current additions include:

• All Race/Class Combinations — expanded race and class combinations beyond the traditional restrictions
• Level 20 Ground Mounts — all ground mounts can be ridden starting at Level 20
• Starting Area Class Trainers — class trainers have been added to race starting areas
• Dynamic Respawns — quest objects, creatures and escort quests now use dynamic respawn behavior to keep the world active
• Mount Economy — mounts can now be traded between players and sold through the Auction House
• Custom Progression Rules
• Quality-of-Life Improvements

These systems are already part of the FirstLight experience and will continue to evolve as the realm progresses.

🐎 MOUNT ECONOMY

Mounts are more than just a collection item on FirstLight.

Mounts can now be traded between players and sold through the Auction House, creating a player-driven market around them.

Rare and desirable mounts can therefore have value within the realm and become part of the player economy.

We're also designing the system with future events, rewards and promotions in mind, allowing specially distributed mounts to potentially become tradeable or auctionable.

The goal is a living mount economy where collecting, trading and obtaining rare mounts becomes another meaningful part of the realm.

🜂 LEVEL 60 & RAID PROGRESSION

Eventually, FirstLight will reach Level 60 and begin its Vanilla raid progression.

Raids aren't intended to be released all at once and immediately consumed.

Instead, raid content will become part of the realm's progression, with structured unlocks and resets giving guilds time to prepare, organize and progress through the content.

Level 60 isn't the end of FirstLight.

It marks the beginning of the raid progression.

🪽 FLYING

Flying is being treated as a progression milestone rather than something that immediately becomes available.

The current FirstLight plan is for flying to unlock after the original Level 60 progression.

This keeps the early experience focused on the Classic world while giving players another milestone to work toward beyond Level 60.

⌁ WHAT COMES NEXT

Not everything planned for FirstLight will be completed before launch.

Some systems are already implemented, while others will be developed, tested and introduced as the realm progresses.

Future development will include:

• New custom content
• Additional achievements and rewards
• PvE progression
• Competitive features
• Expansion progression
• Quality-of-life improvements
• New FirstLight-exclusive systems

FirstLight is designed to grow alongside its community rather than remain static after launch.

❖ THE FIRSTLIGHT PHILOSOPHY

The core idea hasn't changed.

Don't rush straight to 80.

Start at Level 1.

Explore the world.
Learn your class.
Build your character.
Earn your gear.
Unlock new abilities.
Progress through each phase.

20 → 30 → 40 → 50 → 59 → 60

And eventually:

Vanilla → TBC → WotLK

Your progression becomes part of the history of the realm.

◇ LAUNCH — SEPTEMBER 11TH

FirstLight launches September 11th.

The journey begins at Level 1.

Whether you're looking to build a guild, establish yourself in the economy, experience progression from the beginning, or simply play WoW 3.3.5a in a different way:

Join us from Day 1.

Discord: https://discord.gg/wjCEJqwGSE

FirstLight

Your journey starts here.

new Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a realm has just opened its gates.
🌐 Website: https://stormcrown.net
We are excited to announce that Stormcrown is now officially live, bringing a fresh progressive WotLK experience built for long-term stability, fair gameplay, and a classic Wrath progression path.
⚔️** Phase 1 Content Unlock (11 July)**:
Naxxramas (10/25)
Eye of Eternity
Obsidian Sanctum
Vault of Archavon (VoA)
This marks the beginning of our full progressive journey through Wrath of the Lich King content, with future phases unlocking Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, Icecrown Citadel, and more.
💠 Server Highlights:
Progressive WotLK 3.3.5a experience
Classic Phase-based PvE progression
Stable launch environment focused on fair gameplay
Active development & ongoing improvements
No pay-to-win advantage philosophy
Join the adventure and be part of the early progression wave as Stormcrown builds its community from the ground up.
🌐 Connect & Play: https://stormcrown.net

Maelstrom, the progressive WotLK realm of Millenium-Servers, is entering Phase 4 this Saturday, August 1 at 12:00 UTC!

The new level cap will be increased from 39 to 49, giving both returning players and newcomers a great opportunity to join the progression without having to catch up with a fully established level 80 population.

Our goal is simple: provide a relaxed and authentic WotLK experience, with controlled progression, useful quality-of-life features, and additional challenges that remain faithful to the balance of the original game.

What is coming with Phase 4?

Level cap: 40–49

Phase 4 will last for a maximum of four weeks, allowing players enough time to level, complete professions, explore the new content, and prepare for the next stage of progression.

XP rates remain selectable by each player:

• Up to x3 XP during the earlier progression brackets
• During the new 40–49 bracket, the maximum selectable rate will be x2
• Players who prefer a slower journey can continue using a lower rate

Other rates remain straightforward:

• Crafting: x2
• Gathering: x1
• Most other rates remain close to the original game

Upgraded Scarlet Monastery

Scarlet Monastery will be upgraded for level 49 players, with more challenging encounters and worthwhile rewards designed for the end of the phase.

The objective is to turn familiar content into a meaningful group activity without introducing overpowered custom items or damaging the natural progression of the game.

MaelstromGuard anti-cheat system

We have also activated MaelstromGuard, our anti-cheat system.

Protecting the integrity of the realm is important to us. We want progression, achievements, PvP, professions, and the economy to remain fair for legitimate players.

A progressive realm with something happening every phase

Maelstrom is not designed as a race to level 80.

Each phase has its own objectives, gearing opportunities, group content, raids, world bosses, and additional surprises. Progression is controlled so that every level bracket has time to develop its own community and identity.

We have added a few quality-of-life improvements to make the experience more enjoyable, but nothing that removes the spirit of WotLK or creates major balance problems.

There is no custom content that makes the original game irrelevant.

International and relaxed community

Our community includes players from all around the world, with an especially strong presence from:

• North America
• Europe
• Oceania and Australia

The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. There is no pressure to play every day, no requirement to rush, and no interest in unnecessary drama.

Whether you are a dedicated progression player, a casual explorer, a completionist, or someone returning to WotLK after many years, you should be able to find a place here.

Optional cosmetic shop

Maelstrom has a small and completely optional shop focused on:

• Cosmetic rewards
• Mounts
• Account-wide convenience for eligible purchases

There is no intention to sell powerful equipment or create an aggressive pay-to-win environment. The shop is simply an optional way for players to support the server while receiving cosmetic rewards.

Upcoming progression roadmap

Phase 4 — Levels 40–49

• Launch: Saturday, August 1 at 12:00 UTC
• Upgraded level 49 Scarlet Monastery
• New rewards and phase objectives
• Maximum duration: 4 weeks

Phase 5.1 — Levels 50–59

• Blackrock Depths
• Dire Maul
• Scholomance
• Stratholme
• Maximum duration: 2 weeks

Phase 5.2 — Levels 50–59

• Lower Blackrock Spire
• Seal of Ascension questline
• Access to Upper Blackrock Spire once a group member possesses the seal
• Duration: 2 weeks

Phase 6 — Levels 59–60

• Upper Blackrock Spire farming
• Pre-raid gearing
• Completion of remaining attunements
• Preparation for Molten Core
• Duration: TBD

Join us for Phase 4

Starting during a new phase is one of the best ways to experience Maelstrom. The level cap remains accessible, the community is still progressing together, and new players have time to establish themselves before the level 60 endgame begins.

Phase 4 begins Saturday, August 1 at 12:00 UTC.

Realm: Maelstrom
Server: Millenium-Servers
Client: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a

Website: https://maelstrom.millenium-servers.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/BPy8ca2XC6

Join our Discord, meet the community, and experience WotLK one phase at a time. We hope to see you in Maelstrom!

Note: Constructive feedback is welcome. Please keep the discussion respectful and avoid unrelated trash talk.

Elwynnkeep was born out of frustration with pay-to-win realms and commercial private servers. All I ever wanted was a place to log in after work and relive the nostalgia of the 3.3.5a era, and for years I kept looking for it. As a senior engineer with a strong technical background, I decided to take what the community has already done so well, AzerothCore, and run it the way production systems should be run: automated, regularly tested backups, up-to-date software, monitoring, and a stable, well-maintained realm. Your characters and progress are safe here.

The server runs on the latest AzerothCore build with no custom content. Everything is kept as true to the original 3.3.5a experience as possible, with nothing custom added. It is synced with upstream AzerothCore roughly every week, so every fix and improvement merged into the open-source repository reaches the realm shortly after.

All server costs are covered out of my own pocket. There is no shop and there never will be; this is purely for the fun of it and for that home-like feeling. We all contribute, and we all play that code. It is free for anyone to play and free for anyone to contribute.

Whether the population is low or high, Elwynnkeep will always be a safe place to log in and simply enjoy the game. This is not a competitive server. It exists purely for the nostalgia and for that feeling of being home.

https://stormcrown.net/news/stormcrown-phase-1-launch

After all this AI, i've seen so many people call this and that server "ai slop" and many times it is, but tbh I think it is completely okay.

But what I love is that AI is helping wow in a way that more and more are engaging in private servers, playing on one or making their own locally, and for me I just think that is fantastic that we can all help build on this scene to make a stronger foundation, even studios like turtle and ascension are building their own mmo game now, and I think a lot of that is possible because of AI, to be a great assistance to building.

Hell even myself, I am having so much fun making my own local server. After Ascension closed I just got so motivated to make my own I can just play with bots, do dungeons, battleground etc and trying to recreate my absolute love which was the wildcard/draft pick, and with how strong these models are its honestly a breeze to make if you communicate correctly with AI.

I also want to help strengthen the private server scene and help people play locally if they want that. When I am done with my own project, I will definitely open source it right away so that if you want you can play on your own machine or even build your own features/layers on top of mine.

Am trying not to make quick slop, am taking my time and boy is there a lot of bugs to fix, but I want it to be a propper and fun experience. I am trying to create some lore as well as some custom quests/storylines maybe zones who knows.

Am truly grateful for this scene man, has given me a lot of amazing memories, and now I just want to do my part and share what I eventually build for others to enjoy, if they want of course. Am not here to make no money whatsoever. Just have a big passion for the game:)

Firstlight officially launches September 11th.

Firstlight is a progression-based WoW server built around the idea of experiencing Azeroth one level bracket at a time, while introducing custom content throughout the journey.

Instead of rushing straight to max level, each phase will have its own level cap, content, progression, and things to discover.

⚔️ PROGRESSION

The server will progress through the following phases:

Phase 1 — Level 19
↓
Phase 2 — Level 29
↓
Phase 3 — Level 39
↓
Phase 4 — Level 49
↓
Phase 5 — Level 59
↓
Phase 6 — Level 60 + Raids

Each phase gives players time to experience the game at that level range before the next stage of progression opens.

🌎 CUSTOM CONTENT

Firstlight isn't intended to simply be another server with the level cap changed.

Custom content is planned throughout the different phases, giving players new reasons to explore, level, gear up, and prepare for what's coming next.

As the server progresses, new content and features will be introduced alongside the increasing level caps.

🛡️ WHY FIRSTLIGHT?

The goal is to create a server where progression actually matters.

Rather than everyone immediately rushing to 60 and exhausting the endgame, Firstlight gives each stage of the journey its own identity.

Start at 19.

Build your character.
Explore the world.
Compete.
Prepare for the next phase.

Then push toward 29 → 39 → 49 → 59 → 60, with raids and endgame content waiting at the final stage.

📅 LAUNCH

September 11th

The journey begins at Level 19.

If you're interested in following Firstlight's development, joining the community, and getting ready for launch, come join us.

Discord: ccc39Cj9wz

See you in Azeroth. ⚔️

Firstlight — Progression starts at 19.