Nostalrius Begins - Quality wow vanilla realm (1.12)

Hey guys, new here and I haven't actually even had the chance to get logged into the game yet (set it for download this morning then headed to work).

My question is simply in regards to how Nostalrius makes money. As it is my understanding this is a FTP server, is there items in game that are available for purchase, or is the game ran strictly from ad revenue?

Not that I overly care where the money is coming from, but i was just curious what in-game handicaps I would have by playing free opposed to someone with a large bank account

Thanks -

Straight from the FAQ:

https://forum.nostalrius.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3

Is it a pay-to-win server?
No, we'll never be a pay-to-win server.
For example, no stuff / XP / gold / ... will be given against donations or as vote rewards.

It doesn't make any money. It's run strictly by volunteers who humbly accept donations for server upkeep but nothing more.