Short version: Stonetavern is a free Vanilla World of Warcraft realm running real 1.12.1 at x1 rates. PvE, EU-hosted, one shared world, no layering. No shop, no donations that give you anything in game.
The patch and the rates
- Client and content: real 1.12.1, the final Vanilla patch. Naxxramas-era talent trees and itemisation.
- Experience, drop, gold, profession, and reputation rates: x1. Nothing is boosted.
- No custom content. No Vanilla+. No transmog, no LFG tool, no cross-faction anything. If you want Vanilla+, this is not the realm for you.
- What we do change: server-side bug fixes you will not notice in play, and convenience features that live on the website rather than in the game, like the Armory.
How the world is set up
- One realm, one world. No layering and no sharding, so the world you log into is the one everyone else is in.
- PvE ruleset. You flag for world PvP yourself; nobody ganks you in a quest hub by default.
- EU-hosted. EU ping should be low. Non-EU players can join, with higher ping.
Money and fairness
You cannot buy anything in game. The realm costs us real money to run, and you can help with that on Ko-fi if you want to. A contribution gets you a thank-you and nothing else. No gold, no items, no perks, no head start. GMs hold no advantage on the realm either.
Is my account at risk?
Stonetavern runs separately from Battle.net. It never talks to Blizzard’s servers, never sees your retail account, and never touches Battle.net. Use a fresh password you do not use anywhere else, the same as you would on any private realm.
How to start
Make an account, download the client, unpack it, and run it. The client is already pointed at our realm, so there is no realmlist file to edit and no patcher to run. The connect steps are written up in their own thread in Help & Support.
If something here is unclear, ask in this thread and a GM will answer.