Nostalrius, the server that offered players a place to play vanilla World of Warcraft, has been shut down. The end of days for the throwback servers was brought on by a cease and desist from Blizzard. A recent YouTube video captured the last minutes before the Nostalrius server went offline. With the server now gone, gamers wonder if they’ve seen the last of vanilla World of Warcraft.
Blizzard Lays Down the Hammer
With a declining player base in World of Warcraft and a rise in classic servers, the developers at Blizzard felt shutting down Nostalrius was in their best interests. Blizzard hopes with fewer options, fans will find a reason to return to their game. Vice President of Blizzard, J. Allen Brack, also cites a need to protect the company’s copyrights. With no clear legal path to grant Nostalrius an operating license, the server had to go.
YouTube Documents the End
With the cease and desist in hand, the team at Nostalrius planned to close down their servers on April 10. Fans of the vanilla World of Warcraft filled the server to say their goodbyes. YouTube user Radeghost shared his final moments in the game. The YouTube video depicts the end of the world as numerous players fill the screen and fire falls from the sky. The video ends with Radeghost dropping out of the game as the servers close for good. This is just one of the many YouTube videos covering the last moments within the Nostalrius servers.
Nostalrius Paving the Way for Classic Warcraft?
Reading through the YouTube comments of these videos, there is bitterness towards Blizzard. Fans want classic World of Warcraft and Blizzard has yet to meet the demand. It has been revealed that Blizzard has been discussing the possibility of hosting a vanilla server, since shutting down the Nostalrius servers. Developers are still considering how it would be implemented, but they are allegedly talking with the team behind Nostalrius on the matter.
