Private server - not vanilla experience at all?

[NerZhulen]

With 90% players knowing all classes, all zones, all quests, all dungeons, all raids, most game mechanics.
With addons for all dungeon/raid loot, world loot, maps for every area.
With online database which has information about everything in the whole game.

Playing vanilla wow on a private server these days, even with fresh start, is nothing but absolutely and completely nothing like a retail experience. Even if you played only the later wow versions and you play vanilla first time, due to the things mentioned above, the experience is completely incomparable, its simply a different game.

Anyone else?

[Azi]

Come back once you invent a time machine.

[solotoppls]

I started from TBC back in the days and wanted to try Vanilla. I simple don't know why ppl like this expansion when we need addon for almost everything. PVP is so unbalanced.... I will wait for TBC+ server.

[Odomiah]

wanna feeling like that?

Dont use addons, dont use AoWoW, read quests, play as a keyboard turner, forget boss mechanics by getting amnesia...

I like the modern feel I get nowdays.
I like using 78645 addons.
I like having modern feel in old-school mmo.
I feel it's the best combination any mmo has. Very few old games are still being updated addon-wise.

I enjoy vanilla wow as mmo. I don't look for "old feeling". I want the modern mmo feeling while playing best tought out mmo game imo. An mmo with huge open world, very few loadings, active world pvp, no hotkey based queued content.
Now I got that game AND I got addons to provide 2015 feeling in amazing 2004 game

Cheers!

[Arucado]

With 90% players knowing all classes, all zones, all quests, all dungeons, all raids, most game mechanics.
With addons for all dungeon/raid loot, world loot, maps for every area.
With online database which has information about everything in the whole game.

Playing vanilla wow on a private server these days, even with fresh start, is nothing but absolutely and completely nothing like a retail experience. Even if you played only the later wow versions and you play vanilla first time, due to the things mentioned above, the experience is completely incomparable, its simply a different game.

Anyone else?

Totally agree

[Mulen]

i use a minimum of addons ..
and i choose to enjoy this game instead of analyzing everything if it is blizzlike or not.
as long it is not babymode with teleports to instances, looking for group function, epics for quests and other retarded stuff..

then i enjoy this game!
The only non blizzlike thing i want is us to be able to queue up for bgs from the world..

[Glas]

I saw people who were new and asking questions that were obvious to me. They didnt use abilities that were efficent.

You seem to have them ignored / not paid attention to.

Also people are sharing how to do an elite or a 5man group doing elite quests, you do and others see and you tell others or you are playing on your alt and showing everybody how to do it. Of course you can go and do your job in different way and show others whats possible.

Roll a Tank and tank dungeons like no one else. People get inspired, people change. People try that inspiration on other places in the game.

Also you can create a guild convince people that you wanna do raids different than others, you just go in with 30+ and see what you can do with what you have in your raid.

Create a guild that doesnt require anything to raid, even if you only have 1 tank you can heal a hunters pet too or a druid or a rogue with titan flask etc. Just ask how are we gonna deal with that boss and someone will start talking.

[Simonich]

I never played vanilla. I started at cata till wod as trial account, and eventually I found private servers. I jumped from expansion to expansion till I sticked with vanilla. I don't care if its blizzlike or not, just care if its good or bad. That's just me.

[Turtomatic]

...using addons is entirely in your discretion?

[Kalsam]

Yes, and no.

You have the option to play the game without any outside aid; be that through website, addons or other players.

But even if it was guaranteed the full original experience; games have come so far that even someone who's never touched an MMO before this wouldn't have that hard of a time playing just because of their time playing other games.
It's the same reason that many people who play a lot of different types of games tend to jump from one to another with ease. They find stuff that is similar in each and even if they're not actively noticing it... their sub-conscience does.

Many of those playing this are most likely not looking for the pure original experience, but for the change in pace. The extremely vast difference between numbers that currently results in many fights taking longer, requiring more strategy than just overpowering the enemy with numbers that WoW's (currently) set at.
From what I'm seeing with Legion, there's a possibility that the number difference may be on a similar ratio to vanilla/bc... but this'll only be confirmed when Legion's Beta starts up and we begin to see more on it. What looks good on paper doesn't always translate.

The Nost team's done a good job at keeping everything as it was. It's ultimately up to you how much like the original you choose to play it.