Nostalrius team decides not to release source code World of Warcraft server

The team behind the Nostalrius World of Warcraft server has decided not to release the source code and player data database after all. The Nostalrius team announced they would do this when Blizzard ordered the server to be taken offline.

The team says in a forum post that one of the reasons for this decision is that a meeting with Blizzard is coming soon, where the source code could play an important role. It is not clear what the exact purpose of the meeting is, it is only mentioned that it is a ‘discussion’ in which the team explains about the Nostalrius community.

Blizzard recently announced that it is considering introducing a so-called ‘pristine realm’. It is in many ways similar to the vanilla version of World of Warcraft, which was run on the Nostalrius server until it was taken offline. Blizzard defended this move, arguing that failure to act against infringements of its intellectual property could harm its rights. The Nostalrius administrators explain that releasing the source code is not necessary if there is an official Blizzard server in the future.

The Nostalrius team further explains in the forum post that there were never plans to publish the source code of the anti-cheat system. This should prevent the makers of cheats and exploits from writing better software that is difficult or impossible to detect. The team also says that they no longer see themselves only as administrators of a private server, but as ambassadors of a community that wants to restore the history of games.