What kind of server can success at the moment?

[Vitrex]

Hi there. i the middle of my work in almost end to be honest, i asked myself. does my idea can success at the moment?
We all know there a lot of private servers out there, most of them same other unique in some cases. well i asked myself then that question

Do you think custom content can bring you players ?

by custom content i don't mean huge stats and auto attacking all. no i worked more that year on my project to get it working, so i can tell that i crated "expansion" with whole new content, reputations, spell, talent sytems, items, raids, dungs, lore etc. etc.
so then friend of mine told me drop this go with blizz like server. i asked him why? he answered Because players don't give a fuck about custom servers and they will don't give any single f*uck about your server, they will think this is another op stats no sense server. AND even if they try it that kind of server will not bring you more than 100 players. so i thought maybe i'll give a try to blizz but.

there a lot of private blizz like servers i don't wanna advertise them but i know really good because i played there.

So guys what you think , drop idea and go with blizz like stuff on some never version? OR stay with custom content and give players new private wow expansion?

 

[Grandelf]

I think the best response is: you need a bit of luck. There have been succesful private servers,
that had custom content. There also have been succesful blizzlike servers.
What is basically comes down to, in my opinion is: What do you feel most comfortable with.

It is true that if you have a working 5.4.8 server, with most things scripted, it'll probably get you a fair amount of players.
However, it'll take a lot of work to achieve this, not to mention a good understanding of C++.
Servers with custom content on the other hand, can (sometimes) afford to not have everything scripted.
Taking into account that you already worked on your server for over a year, I would give it a shot.
Just make sure you show people that your server is unique, different and not a server with overpowered items if that isn't what you want.

Then it comes down to luck again, players will have to notice your server and actually create an account.

 

[Vitrex]

thanks for opinion. mate i appreciate it
I just wanna heard few opinions more

to be honest, i worked on it for about 2 years if count all time, but my pc was burned after storm.heh and i lost my HDD with all data of server.

 

[Mathias]

Players also love active admins that they can spam all their problems on. So a mature and active staff might be just as important as the type

 

[Hyperion]

Players also love active admins that they can spam all their problems on. So a mature and active staff might be just as important as the type

I couldn't have said this better. I believe the success of your server revolves around the people who run it.
My main issue when I first ran servers was the staff I hired, they either bailed or they caused problems.

 

[Vitrex]

nice OT but thanks for advices

 

[Mathias]

But getting a good set of staff can be very hard for most of the people that will apply won't be those that are good

 

[Vitrex]

since i already have a staff i would not need it since online count won't rise 100+ i have 3 testers with same wow exp as me. and 2 gms they ar all my friends so...

 

[Tommy]

Your friend is kinda dumb, yes offense. Why would you even consider dropping an already custom progressive project with a new "Blizzlike" project? Blizzlike is honestly boring unless you are updated on recent to most recent expansion(s) or possibly have a classic to TBC server running since people are nostalgic. Regardless, there's no point in dropping your project for something new when or if your active project is almost completed, ready for alpha/beta.

You can never tell what private server players want unless you've tested every possible way to get players (Blizzlike, Custom, Fun, old expansions, new expansions, etc). If I had to give advice or my opinion based on not playing your server and not knowing every detail about it, that would be: Custom continent is always a good thing. It all depends on execution, basically how good, playable and enjoyable the said custom content is. The realistic way will be to continue with your project and see for yourself & don't listen to anyone that refers to dropping the project.

And yes, it isn't always just about how great the server is to receive players. It is about advertising. It is very important to get your server out there via social (Twitter, Facebook), Youtube and have voters on topsites. This is your main way in actually getting players, and the continent you supply will try & keep those players. And as, Mathias & Faded pointed out: players are very comfortable around great staff with great ticket support, professionalism, etc. If you do release your server, you cannot expect everything to go super fast. It will take time.

Lastly, your friend said, "AND even if they try it that kind of server will not bring you more than 100 players", I obviously don't think it is true; however, I will say this: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or even 100 players IS NOT all THAT bad. It is still a lot of unique people. Even if you reached those numbers you will have enough players to advertise more to get even more players. Experience with servers doesn't always beat simple smarts. :3

 

[Vitrex]

Thanks [MENTION=1]Tommy[/MENTION] , since i didn't had any servers before the knowledge and experience share is a really good thing. and i really appreciate your opinions . thanks again for all
You are best guys !

 

[EmuNoob]

Never let your dream be another person dream.... just do it !

 

[Marko]

nobody yet mentioned one very important issue i encountered this several times.. The Security. The work you have made and invested lots of time and effort can be easely stolen by some "friend" you gave db access to or some gm can sell items to players behind your back unless you keep checking gm logs, and reports, and are interactive at least every other day on server and sometimes going invisible to monitor behaviour etc.
Indeed this issue of securing your data is very important.
There are also some basic hacking methods to bypass your bans and mutes etc. so when you have some annoying children spamming your server chat and u can't get rid of em, raise the req lvl for say/yell/whisper so they can not just keep spamming. And simply delevel em when they unban themselves and unmute.. etc. there are several tricks like that but all is basic stuff really. With experience you will figure it all out.

So key words here are Time, Security, Maturity (dealing with many things responsibly), Hard Work. If you can supply these, you can make excellent work. My own problem is time, since working 11-12h daily + 2h travel to home and coming dead tired, must buy and cook food, take a shower etc.. my time is extra limited except sunday.. if you are stuck in same kind of slavery for mere existence like me i advise you to proceed carefully since time really is key factor here.

edit: do not give gm to random people, make a system where they first must apply for tgm, conditions for applying to tgm are and u name them. For example passed all custom content, active over a month, familiar with everything on server. Create tgm account for tgm, do not give to his main acc. Unless tgm in ur db has no commands for adding items/learning spells etc. Trial can last for 2 weeks in which their responsibility is to check for hackers and report them, run players through instances and help with content using only normal gear. Then when tgm reached, at least 1month must be tgm before applying for gm rank etc. Well this is some basic system i used hopefully it helps you
Greetings from Serbia

 

[Tommy]

nobody yet mentioned one very important issue i encountered this several times.. The Security. The work you have made and invested lots of time and effort can be easely stolen by some "friend" you gave db access to or some gm can sell items to players behind your back unless you keep checking gm logs, and reports, and are interactive at least every other day on server and sometimes going invisible to monitor behaviour etc.
Indeed this issue of securing your data is very important.
There are also some basic hacking methods to bypass your bans and mutes etc. so when you have some annoying children spamming your server chat and u can't get rid of em, raise the req lvl for say/yell/whisper so they can not just keep spamming. And simply delevel em when they unban themselves and unmute.. etc. there are several tricks like that but all is basic stuff really. With experience you will figure it all out.

So key words here are Time, Security, Maturity (dealing with many things responsibly), Hard Work. If you can supply these, you can make excellent work. My own problem is time, since working 11-12h daily + 2h travel to home and coming dead tired, must buy and cook food, take a shower etc.. my time is extra limited except sunday.. if you are stuck in same kind of slavery for mere existence like me i advise you to proceed carefully since time really is key factor here.

edit: do not give gm to random people, make a system where they first must apply for tgm, conditions for applying to tgm are and u name them. For example passed all custom content, active over a month, familiar with everything on server. Create tgm account for tgm, do not give to his main acc. Unless tgm in ur db has no commands for adding items/learning spells etc. Trial can last for 2 weeks in which their responsibility is to check for hackers and report them, run players through instances and help with content using only normal gear. Then when tgm reached, at least 1month must be tgm before applying for gm rank etc. Well this is some basic system i used hopefully it helps you
Greetings from Serbia

Not sure how this is relevant towards the topic since OP is asking if his idea is good enough for a successful server. You shouldn't be giving people, even friends access to anything of yours. Updates and such can be given to an administrator that has database/other access so they can review it and apply the said updates. People spamming can easily be dealt with by Gamemasters, as that's what they are for. And, should it not be obvious to review people for positions? Obviously you wouldn't hire people that are completely derp.