Do Private Servers Present a Threat to Larger MMO's?

Does BlizzardEntertainment have anything to fear when it comes to the privateserver community? According to the phenomenally accelerated speed atwhich they are growing (and rumored profits), it doesnt seem to be anissue.

Its difficult to tellwho the first private servers are that went up, but its documentedthat there are some as old as 4yrs (at the time of this writing) arestill running. That means less than a year after the release, peoplewere already hard a work making the software to make their ownservers to play on with and their own rules. Yet, with the fastrising of WPS's (World of Warcraft Private Servers), Blizzard hasmanaged in less that 5yrs, to attract a staggering 9 million payingsubscribers (at $14.99/month)

My research has shownthat doing a Google search on privately advertised WPS's (,ones thatdo not advertise on a TOP X site), over 90% of them have bad links,and even the majority of those no longer come up on Google's “cache”search. It would appear that as fast as they go up, others go down.

Question also arises:is it legal? There is much debate to whether SERIOUS legal action istaken against anyone who runs or plays on a WPS. One thing is forcertain, you most likely will get banned permanently from blizzard ifyour caught since you agreed not to do such a thing when you signedup. Since private servers do not charge users for playing, and theyare based off their home pc – some debate that they can do whatthey want on their own system with the software they paid for. Whoknows if that would hold in court.

There are some sites,however, that could cause a stink. Top sites like “Toxic-Wow” hasranked in the top 3 best WPS's in the world. And boast over an 8,000player cap!!! I went and looked at their site. Its no push over.These guys mean business. Site is professionally done , andeverything is in order. I logged on and played a bit. Sure enough.First few quest did not work(what is WOW without a story line ofquest to play out) . However they had the xp set so high that I waslevel 4 in 3 min. So this was, a fast server. One that would get youto 70 quickly by just turning in a few quest.

I've played on numerousWPS's and they share a few common characteristics.

1. The majority of them are operated by minors (ages have ranged from 12 – 17)

2. They are VERY buggy. Quest do not work, pets are irratic, lockups, friendly npc's attack you, the list are endless.

3. When they do try to update, most of the time loose your toon, oh they are apologetic, however, your toon is still lost.

4. Lot of them are instant 70's. Which poses problems with getting equipment. While you can just .additem xxx and receive it, I know from experience that those items added are missing their special abilities unlike their counterparts that when they drop you get those abilities.

5. And they're pretty lonely. I mean if you're into pvp or friends, how enjoyable is it when there are only 12 people in the world??

So for the most part,Blizzard doesn't have much to fear. Its pretty obvious, even 4yrslater, that the majority of the servers will never achieve the highstandards of a real WoW server. Many people leave because of acommon issue. FRUSTRATION caused by issues listed above. A mediocregame play, at best, is what can be expected for those that play. Butwhat do you expect for free?