[Why every server fails] Part 1 - The lack of knowledge/The general situation

**Barbz** · 01-02-16, 07:39 PM

Why every server fails - Part 1 The general situation

What is this about ?

Hello MMOPro,

I wrote a document about the general situation of private server making. It provides informations about why so many servers are failing and why it is hard.
This is aimed at everybody involved into private servers, especially developers, but also players and anybody curious to understand better how it works and what is happening.

Introduction

Only an infinitesimal part of the private servers succeeds. There were dozens, and certainly hundreds of servers which closed while they were looking very professional and had everything most people think would be enough (a website, a forum, a launcher, a different concept, a custom zone, a custom BG, an alpha, a beta etc…). Many people praised them but they closed few weeks/months after release. Even servers with a team of skilled developers almost invariably fail. Failure is so common that 50 players online simultaneously is considered a big amount of players by most server makers. Players do not agree. And they are right.
Qualified developers look numerous but it's not really the case. And you might think everybody involved in the private server creation knows this, but they ignore it.
The scene looks active but the results are extremely poor. And here are some of the reasons we don't see much good servers.

To get an idea of what it is about, here is the table of content :

Code:

Section 1: The servers
Section 2: The lack of knowledge
        2.1: Nobody knows why a server becomes popular or not
           2.1.1: Every project fails, did you know it ?
           2.1.2: Not even the veterans/pros know
        2.2: The developers
           2.2.1: They are young
           2.2.2: They are few
           2.2.3: They can’t make much
           2.2.4: What are the good developers doing ?
           2.2.5: Owners-developers
        2.3: To each its own field
        2.4: Communitarianism
        2.5: Past knowledge belongs to the past
        2.6: Speaking unwisely

1 The servers

You certainly already figured it out, only an infinitesimal part of the private servers succeeds. There were dozens, and certainly hundreds of servers which closed while they were looking very professional and had everything most people think would be enough (a website, a forum, a launcher, a concept, a custom zone, a custom BG, an alpha, a beta etc…). Many people praised them but they closed few weeks/months after release. Even servers with a team of skilled developers almost invariably fail. Failure is so common that 50 players online simultaneously is considered a decent/big amount of players by most server makers. Players do not agree. And they are right.
There are either huge servers with several thousands of players online like Nostalrius, Warmane, WOW Circle, Rising-Gods, FireStorms etc... or tiny servers with less than 50 players online. Of course, there are some servers in between but it may be as rare as the huge servers.
You can compare this to the real world economy where 1% of the population owns almost 50% of the total wealth and the rest is divided between the 99% other part of the population. But in this case, huge servers (the 1%) hold more than 50% of the players.

2 The lack of knowledge

Most people involved in the making of private servers are not aware of what happens elsewhere in the private servers scene. It’s even more observable within foreign communities where they don’t have a clue what is happening in the international communities.
Server makers are usually focused on their work, and they don’t know which servers open and close, which servers succeed or not, and simply put, they lack a lot of essential knowledge. Though, they certainly think they know enough about the subject (and that’s why they fail).

2.1 Nobody knows why a server becomes popular or not

Nearly all the protagonists involved in the WOW emulation don’t have a clue as to why a server attracts players or not. The numbers speak for themselves. It goes from the players (another example here), to the administrators, including the developers, the GMs etc...

2.1.1 Every project fails, did you know it ?

A large chunk of the developers/owners are not even aware of this. They don’t know that the vast majority of servers are never released or never successful. How possible ? Ask them. If they knew, they would not waste so much time with these projects. The most obvious explanation is that they think a quality work (= source code) automatically brings success and they don’t bother doing anything else than strengthening their skills or developing their server.
Developers always have high hopes, but that’s very naive considering almost every project fails.

2.1.2 Not even the veterans/pros know

Veterans are not spared by this curse. They may know some essential things, but apparently that’s not enough. After seeing the demise of so many servers during their “career”, they usually have a clear idea of what makes a great server or not. Until they try it out themselves and join the long list of those who didn’t make it.
“Pros” are usually those with a reputation on the forums, even if there are also more quiet veterans, who worked on successful servers, who are not present on these boards. “Pros” are generally known for their past or recent contributions (which can’t be denied), their previous successes in the emulation (usually dating back several years) and are (sadly) considered as truth speakers.
Check this document for more infos.

2.2 The developers

For a private server, recruiting a competent developer is a feat in itself.

2.2.1 They are young

Those who can invest a lot of time in developing servers are usually students, that’s why the average age is quite low within the WOW emulation. People older than 21 are pretty rare. And it has an impact on how projects are handled (or ended). A concrete and quite amusing example here.

2.2.2 They are few

Few people seem to acknowledge that there are few developers with the qualities required for a long-term project (every private server is supposedly a long-term project). Only those who actively recruit know that fact.
There is a lack of two essential things in the WOW private server making domain :

Experimented/skilled persons.
Serious/wise and /determined/ambitious persons. But that point is way more lacking than the first one.

How do they do on the big servers then ?
On many big servers, there are only one or two, maybe three, core developers (on Dalaran WOW, or on Sunwell for example). In top of that, it’s not that rare that these servers are made by long-time friends cooperating towards a common goal, so the core team is already formed and it’s easier. When they succeed, they can recruit as much as they want since success brings success.

2.2.3 They can’t make much

[…]

Full text

It's a bit too long to post the entire text here, and I already formatted it on my website (in two versions, one is dark and the other one is brighter and mobile friendly) in order to avoid doing it again here, so if you're interested in reading more, check these links :

2-The general situation.html

Note

I suggest you to read everything before reading others' comments (some may be biased because people may feel offended) and before commenting yourself else you may miss a lot of points and speak too quickly. And don't let others' reputation or post count intimidate you.
If you already read my other documents, please, comment only about this particular one on this thread, not about another because I will create a thread for each and you will then be able to comment it without going off-topic and without confusing other readers. In top of that, you may find all the answers you need if you read the whole folder's content. You can also contact me by email.

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