Stonetavern

On most servers half the players race ahead and everyone else levels alone. Barrens works differently. There is a level cap that applies to all of us, and it lifts for the whole realm on the same day. If you start a week late, you can still find people at your level.

Right now the cap is 19. That is Phase 0: Deadmines, Wailing Caverns, Warsong Gulch. From there the realm climbs step by step through Classic, then The Burning Crusade, then Wrath of the Lich King, each era running on its real client instead of one engine pretending to be three.

Three days of peace, three days of war. The realm runs on a slow drum. Three days as a PvE realm where you decide when to fight, then three days of open world PvP in contested zones. The switch happens for everyone at the same time, at dawn, after a short announced restart. If the war days are not for you, you always know in advance when they are coming.

Horde and Alliance together. Grouping, chat, auction house, and mail all work across the faction line. Inside a shared group you remain allies during the war days as well.

No shop. Nothing to buy. Ever. There is no store, no advantage for money, and no shortcut. Donations are voluntary and change nothing in the game.

Respeccing costs a flat one gold, and there is an NPC for it at the dungeon entrances. If the road eventually climbs further than you want to go, your character can move to Elwynn, our realm that stays on Classic.