Following the issuance of a cease and desist order versus the developers of the fan-run vanilla World of Warcraft server Nostalrius earlier this month, prompting its shutdown, Blizzard finally breaks its silence.
The company says it is mulling another option for the fans as a replacement for Nostalrius, the "pristine realm."
The shutting down of this renowned, unofficial server, in which fans could play the classic version of WoW, has led to more support for Nostalrius, specifically from longtime fans of Warcraft.
"Our silence on this subject definitely doesn't reflect our level of engagement and passion around this topic," says J. Allen Brack, WoW executive producer. "We hear you. Many of us across Blizzard and the WoW Dev team have been passionate players ever since."
As a matter of fact, Brack says he decided to work at Blizzard because of his "love for classic WoW."
Brack assures the fans that Blizzard has been closely monitoring the discussion regarding Nostalrius, adding that the company appreciates players' constructive ideas and thoughts.
The game's official forum answers why Blizzard is not letting the server to continue, saying failure to safeguard against intellectual infringement would damage the rights of the company.
Blizzard likewise underscores that while the company is looking into the probability in giving a license to operate to a so-called pirate server, like Nostalrius, it says there's no clear legal path in protecting the IP of the company.
The company is considering pristine realm instead as a replacement for server Nostalrius, saying this would manage to "turn off all leveling acceleration," which include heirloom gear, WoW token, character transfers, character boosts, group finder, access to cross realm zones along with Recruit-A-Friend bonuses.
The company says, however, that it is not sure as to whether this would capture the interest of fans and that this option is open for discussion.
Blizzard likewise shares it has begun communicating with a few of the people behind Nostalrius.
"They obviously care deeply about the game," it says, adding that it is thinking to organize more talks with them in the succeeding days.
In the meantime, some WoW fans seem to appreciate the company's move to break its silence regarding the matter and to present another option for the community.
