Directions for a noob and a question on exploration

[deeminllama]

Hi, my cry for help is two-fold:

#1.

Directions on emulating WOW. From scratch. Assume I know absolutely nothing (I emulated a WOW server about 4 years ago if I remember correctly). Could someone please send me in the right direction? Where do I need to start reading? What is the best emulator/options? Which threads might be most useful? etc. etc. etc.

I don't need a word for word explanation here...just a point in the right direction cause there are a lot of threads and a lot of options and some clarification would be very much appreciated.

#2.

This is somewhat connected to my first point for I am trying to discern if it is all worth the effort. Here is what my mind is thinking: I want to play WOW as an exploration game. I am therefore simply looking to emulate the world. I don't care for fighting or questing. I simply want to explore the world. I therefore do not care if all the items are there, if all the skills work, if the job system works, if some of the quests are broken, pvp etc. I am simply looking for a world I can run around in and admire the view, find new locations, explore dungeons etc.

Is something like this possible? And if so what would be the quickest/easiest way to do so? Can one edit the emulated server to make all the creatures neutral? Give your character access to all the areas? Or turn on a god-mode perhaps? If I wanted to, and if I could do all the quests without the prerequisite grinding it would be nice - I could 'read some stories' to some extent and get to know the world, characters etc.

I hope you understand what I am trying to get out of my emulated server and, once again, any help regarding this would be much appreciated.

[stoneharry]

#1:

Although there is a lot of general disagreement and many people will contest the following statement, currently the following emulators are good for:

TrinityCore - Blizzlike & Game Mechanics
Mangos - Blizzlike & Stability
ArcEmu - Fast Implementation of Customisation & Lua

None of the emulators support 4.x and won't do for a long time.

You can read some more basic information here: Emulator Server - MMOwned Wiki

The best place to find accurate and unbiased information about emulation is to actually visit each emulators website and wiki and just read a bit.

#2:

Any old repack solves this for you straight away, unfortunately 90% of them you will have issues setting up due to a lack of communication or knowledge. Just follow guides and ask when you get stuck.

Very, very few repacks support the 4.x patches and if they do you will have issues getting them working.