World of Best Friends Craft

We recently discussed playing games together in our collective states of isolation. While no single game was chosen, we've had a few situations where smaller groups of us have played something together in the last week. I enjoy that, but I wish there was something we could all play together like we do D&D. Not just as a game, but a way of hanging out.

So I set up a WoW server.

This has in the past served as a good social ground. For the play and hangout. Which seemed perfect during this quarantine. The persistent world makes it a little easier too because we don't have to schedule time to play. We can easily just hop on and see what everyone is doing. My goal was to set up something similar, without the downsides of cost and time-sink.

I want to give everyone a few warnings. If you don't care and just want to play, jump to the 'Setup' section. These are intended not to over explain any details, but to make sure everyone has a good understanding of how this works and the limitations of it.

I don't know how long the server will last. Right now, it's going strong. I still want it to be known that things could go wrong. Either from the system side or externally. If the hardware dies, I can't replace it right now. If Blizzard notifies me that the server needs to come down, I'll have to accept that. If my electric bill goes up hundreds of dollars, I can't afford to keep the server running. I'll do what I can to keep this going as long as possible, but I can't promise it will be available forever.

This is absolutely against Activision Blizzards ToS. I'm not concerned about this because the worst they could do is tell me to shut the server down. However, I know some people still actively play other Blizzard games. I don't believe they have any active scanning on your computer to make sure you're not playing on Private servers, but they could. Just in case, it may be safer to not be logged into BattleNet when playing. I have no control over it, but I would hate for folks to be banned from other games just for playing this one.

This is intended to be private. I have it running through a private network. There is a specific application you'll need to run to connect to the server (mentioned more in the technical portion). This is used instead of connecting over the internet so I don't have to set up a bunch of security and firewalls. However it also means that it's limited to those who are running the app. I'm using this as an artificial limit for a small number of people. 1) To confirm system resources are adequate to play and 2) So we don't end up with random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the network who will ♥♥♥♥ with it. Here is that initial list:

• Me
  
• Breezy
  
• MasterBrian
  
• Kelsea
  
• Aaron
  
• Timmy
  
• Tony
  
• Tye
  
• Matt
  
• Ben

It may be rough around the edges. Please keep that in mind. I've put in some work to make this simple to set up and as smooth as possible to play but the Production game has bugs and they have a team of devs. This one will definitely have bugs too. Any game breaking bugs can most likely be fixed or worked around. I'll work those out later. Initially I just want to stress test the server and make sure it works for everyone before handling one-off cases.

I'm not giving anyone GM access. Yet. Even for myself. I want us to be able to play the way we used to. If everyone has admin powers it won't be long before we're all throwing lightning ♥♥♥♥♥ at each other and we get bored of it. With that, I have made some configuration changes. Quest drops are 100% so your boars all have livers. Experience is increased, but it needs more work. Bags will be provided later. Minor things like world materials and other necessary drops you get from the AH have been increased. Mostly for the lack of anyone actually using the AH (though Breezy joked about starting a monopoly on some items so watch out for that). In any case, I'm not making anyone omnipotent but I am trying to make the game easier with respect to the amount of players we have. This will take time to configure just right. Feel free to provide input on anything that you think would help.

The game requires a VPN to play. WoW usually runs from a client on your machine, over the internet, to Blizzard's servers. While a client is still running on your machine the rest is different. The client here is the WoW 3.3.5a client. This is the client for Wrath of the Lich King. I settled on Wrath for the server because I have fond memories of it and it gives us more to do in the world. The client talks directly to ZeroTier, a VPN tool that you'll run locally. This forwards game network traffic over the internet from your machine to the server the VPN is hosted on. The server then picks up that traffic, passes it to the WoW world server which responds and sends it back. Pretty straight forward. I mention it though for two reasons. 1) You need to be running ZeroTier to connect. Otherwise the WoW client will go nowhere. 2) If you do not set it up properly, I will receive all of your network traffic. I don't want that and you probably don't want that either. The safest bet is to connect when you're playing the game and disconnect when you're done. Luckily, ZeroTier makes this pretty simple.

It won't be much of a world unless we work on it together. I control the server, but I don't control what happens in game. Everyone is free to play whatever class they want. If we all roll rogues, we'll have to deal with the world as backstabbers, together. Same goes for factions. The server allows mixed factions so feel free to play either or both. Anyone is welcome to start a guild and do anything they normally would. I only ask that you don't be a ♥♥♥♥. Example, logging in and making a character named 'Lianth' so Tony can't. We're not here to craft war. We're here to craft best friends.


Again, this is meant to be as simple as possible. If you have any difficulties please let me know.


Download the files here: Google Drive - WOBFC[drive.google.com]

Note: Some folks were having trouble accessing the downloadable file. If this happens let me know so I can generate a new link

I'm sorry if this takes a while. If you know a better way to send a 20Gb file, I'm open to suggestions. This is also a temporary link set up for 24 hours. If anyone is not online before then I'll update the link.


Unzip/extract the files to the folder where you want them stored (i.e. 'My Documents', or a 'Games' folder). I don't recommend running it through Steam or any other thirdparty launchers.


Run the ZeroTier.msi application. This is an installer for the VPN. Once installed and started, an icon will appear on your taskbar (by the clock). Right-click the ZeroTier icon and select 'Join Network...'. Paste this 16 character key into the window that comes up: 83048a0632b9ca0e. Check the box for 'Allow managed'. Do not check any other boxeS. Click 'Join'. Once connected you should be able to right-click ZeroTier again and see that key with the server name (World of Best Friends Craft). To disconnect, right-click the ZT icon on select the checkmark next to the connection.


Wait for me to authorize the VPN connection. I'll need to be online for this, but it will only need to happen once for me to link your account. Each account is named after your Steam title. This was the easiest way for me to set it up. Once authorized, I'll send you a password.


Launch 'Wow.exe'. Login using your Steam name and the password I provide. The realmlist is already directed to my server so you won't have to edit anything or choose a realm. You're then brought to the character creation screen.


Enjoy. Let me know if you have any questions or recommendations as you're playing. If you find a bug, open a ticket for it using the in-game tool. I don't have a routine set up to check these, but they are logged. I expect to get at least a couple that just say 'Butts'. And in that case, I'll do what I can to fix the bug in your butts.


P.S. Ollie has this to say: 3247824

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