Conquest of the Horde

Let me first start off by saying that I haven't played WoW in a while, so I may have missed something, but back in the day when I played retail, you didn't need to enter your email address as a username. You can imagine my surprise when I found the startup page looking like this:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x199 ... 061206.jpg

I entered my information, but the game stated that I didn't have a Battle.net account. I navigated to the link prescribed by the subsequent error message and updated my WoW account into a Battle.net account.

But when I logged on again, I was told:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x199 ... 061219.jpg

This is consistent, whether my realmlist is retail or CotH. I really don't know what to do at this point and would like some help from a more experienced member.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Well, it states there are about on or two problems taking place-

(1) You haven't added WoW to your list of games yet- This is a somewhat quick fix, just head over to Battle.net, log in, find the add game button, then enter in the codes that came with your WoW (You'll have to find the cd cases). Please note you need to enterin all the cods you have, so if you enter just the code for WoW and not add in the codes for TBC or Wotlk expansions, then you can't access Northrend or Outland, or go over level 60.

(2) Another problem that occurred is that you have the WoW version for a different country, like for example, I live in the Uk, which we all know is in Europe, If I bought the American US version of WoW and tried playing it, I'll get the same problem, and the reason is ebcause my servers are all EU servers and it can't work with the American version of the game. One way to fix it is contact customer service and tell them your problems. Ofcourse do not tell them that you play on retail and a private server, just say you play on retail only.

I hope you can resolve your problem!

If you are trying to log into CotH, the problem would be that the realmlist you changed to CotH is the incorrect realmlist. Often there are two, one in the main World of Warcraft Folder and another hidden away within the Data folder. To find this, all you have to do is search around a bit and before you know it, you'll have found your problem.

Thanks for the prompt response!

It is as Manufreak says - I hadn't added World of Warcraft to my list of games on Battle.net. However, there is a rather troubling problem. Somewhere along the way, my WoW boxes have been lost, and the CD keys along with them. This wasn't a problem when I bought the game, but now it seems that I can't recover my CD keys, I'll be forced to pay to A) buy a game I already own and B) restart my account from scratch.

I have contacted Blizzard's tech support asking for help on this issue. Hopefully I can get some justice from the manufacturers, and I can join you promptly in-game

EDIT:

Alright, gentlemen, my CD-Key issue has been resolved. However, when I try to log on, it attempts to log me on with my WoW retail account, and proceeds to tell me that my subscription has run out - which is true. I was under the impression that a private server like this one would be free, and while I would be perfectly willing to pay for retail, I would prefer not to. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just being cheap and should just pay my dues?

There is only one realmlist file; I have pored over each system file individually, and there's only one. I changed it according to the website:

set realmlist logon.conquestofthehorde.com
set patchlist logon.conquestofthehorde.com
set realmlistbn ""
set portal us

You need to set up your realmlist to the CoTH, what do you have it set to now?

You caught me mid-edit, Abishua. I've set up my realmlist to the site's specifications.

Do you have an approved introduction and have you created a server account? If you attempt to log in using your normal Blizzard information, it will default to retail servers -- even if the realm list directs the game to Conquest of the Horde.

Conquest of the Horde is free and requires no money (though donations are accepted and you can help out by purchasing Cataclysm through our referral program!).

Yeah, do what Piroska said, You need to do a certain few things in order to join the server, but take it from me, and a lot more people-
It's worth it.

Also, Don't feel bad for not going on with retail, the only thing that I regret (which is the main thing that I regret) is the fact that I have to leave all my friends behind, and my guild, Who I all really miss D:

But don't worry, making new ones here will be easy, just make sure you know the rest of their characters and maybe their forum names or else they may disappear for some time (Like not play on that character for a some time).

Have fun, make sure you read all the FAQs and Rules. Trust me, reading them will be very useful, and are not as long as you think.

Thanks, y'all! I had already had my introduction approved, but wasn't aware that a further signup was necessary. My browser is now fully functional - I'll be able to join your very considerate community in-game See you there!