World of Warcraft private realms are definitely growing in popularity, and after playing in several different World of Warcraft test realms, it seems that there may even be more players playing in private realms than in the pre-assigned Blizzard realms which require you to pay for. To access these private test realms, it won’t cost you a monthly fee (you can stop paying for your Blizzard/WoW subscription and continue playing). I love the fact that I can play these realms without having to worry about going down to the store once every few months and pay money out of my pocket to keep playing.
So when it comes time to choose from the private test realms, there is a lot of debate. There are over 100 different private World of Warcraft test realms. Each of these realms varies in some way or another, be it the members, setup, or gear, the realms are all going to be different from eachother.
When I look for a private test realm that I like, I look for a few characteristics. I like a really fast test realm. No one wants to experience lag while they’re playing. I also want to be able to get the lower tier gear extremely easily, if it’s going to be an instant level 70 realm. I don’t want to have to run through instances in crap gear to get something even worth while.
However, I don’t want to be able to get the best gear in the game extremely easily. It takes all of the fun and challenge out of the game completely when you’re already completely decked out and ready to start massively pvp’ing when you have everything you need easily. On the other hand, the realms that allow their players to get the gear only through donations is extremely unfair as well. Players who want to spend the most money on the game are going to have an extreme advantage!
I like it when I have to run through dungeons with groups of people in order to get the tier 7 or season 5 gear. It is nice however, to be able to get the lower tier gears before this. It’s still fair that you need to work towards having the best gear in the game.
So, according to the criteria I’ve described above (you might not like my specifications, in that case, look through the servers on the link at the end of the article), these are a few of my favorite private test realms.
Funserver is a decent realm. On this one, you’ll become level 70 instantly, you start out at level 70 when you create a new character. It’s pretty simple to get your gear and what not. The lag is manageable, however still present. If you enjoy a completely lag free server, this might not be the one for you. However, the GM support is quite decent on this realm, and it’s well organized. The website for this realm can be found here.
Hswow is another pretty nice realm. Lately, its been closing down quite a bit while I was playing though. I think this is more of a temporary thing. The best feature about this realm is the layout of the honor shops. They’re extremely easy to go through and get all of your equipments. The thing I hate about this realm is that if you want to have good power and do good in PVP, you’re going to need to be a donor. I still love the amount of PvP and players in general on this realm though. You can talk between factions, as well as have both alliance and horde members of a guild. Interesting layout. You can find the website for this realm here.
Atomic WoW is my personal favorite private WoW realm. It’s extremely fast, I’ve never experienced lag. The gear is fun getting, like I said in the description, you can get most of the lower tier gear easily, and you’ll need to run dungeons for the best. You can get all the gold you want by talking to a cow. The GM’s are friendly and helpful. Decent amount of players. Custom dungeons for gear. It’s really the best I’ve played. The only thing it lacks is PvP in random areas, which was a big deal on other realms. The website for Atomic WoW can be found here.
If you’re interested in checking out the best 100 private WoW servers, view this website.
Good luck choosing! Have fun with Private Servers!