Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsWoW goes free-to-play through level 20
by Michael Sacco 
Jun 28th 2011 at 7:00PM
If you do get the hankering for more WoW thanks to the trial, you can get the digital Battle Chest, which includes classic WoW and The Burning Crusade, for $19.99 (as soon as the Blizzard site works again, anyway).
Trying out WoW for the first time with one of these trials? Have a friend who's just starting out and needs a push in the right direction? Check out WoW Rookie, our resource for new or casual players, with topics like:
- Turn WoW into quality time by playing with a partner
- Pick the class that's right for you
- Learn how to run dungeons with groups
Trial Account Restrictions
- A level cap of 20.
- A maximum of 10 gold.
- Trade skills are capped at 100 ranks.
- Unable to trade via the Auction House, mailbox, or player-to-player.
- In-game access to public chat channels unavailable. Players are limited to communicating using only say, party, or whisper.
- Characters will be unable to create or join guilds.
- Characters are not able to send whispers to other characters unless they have been added to the characters' friends lists or have received a whisper from a character first.
- Characters will not be able to invite other players into a party.
- Characters will not be able to join parties with other characters above level 20.
- Voice chat disabled on Starter Edition accounts.
- Realms experiencing login queues will prioritize players who have full, paid accounts.
- Starter Edition accounts are not eligible for character transfers
- RealID features are disabled on all Starter Edition Accounts.
- A maximum of 10 gold.
- Trade skills are capped at 100 ranks.
- Unable to trade via the Auction House, mailbox, or player-to-player.
- In-game access to public chat channels unavailable. Players are limited to communicating using only say, party, or whisper.
- Characters will be unable to create or join guilds.
- Characters are not able to send whispers to other characters unless they have been added to the characters' friends lists or have received a whisper from a character first.
- Characters will not be able to invite other players into a party.
- Characters will not be able to join parties with other characters above level 20.
- Voice chat disabled on Starter Edition accounts.
- Realms experiencing login queues will prioritize players who have full, paid accounts.
- Starter Edition accounts are not eligible for character transfers
- RealID features are disabled on all Starter Edition Accounts.
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!Filed under: Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 6)
Bart Jun 29th 2011 10:13AM
WTB Improved Trial accounts and free TBC for EU
Gene Jun 29th 2011 10:40AM
Really misleading title guys. Unlimited trial and free to play are entirely different things. If this were F2P I'd be able to form groups, join guilds, have access to chat, and send tells. Also I'd be able to restore my own WoW account and play characters
dms614 Jun 29th 2011 11:13AM
It says "Free to play through level 20" which implies you can't do anything past that and if you've ever recruited a friend, they are limited to level 20 also (causing me to assume the same restrictions would be there)...not misleading at all
Gene Jun 29th 2011 11:51AM
@dms614
You miss the point. If it were really free to play, that should mean I can reactivate my personal already established account at a starter/F2P level and be able to play my characters that are below 20 with restrictions to my leveling, crafting and money gathering without having to make another account. I'd also be able to start groups with friends, if me and my friend both had these trial accounts, neither one of us would be able to group and work together to complete quests as a group or run instances. The only hope is to find someone with a paying account under 20 who will group you up. And if you're a high level in the game trying to get a friend to play, aside from tells(which the high level would have to send first btw) you'd really have no social interaction. Beyond that the restrictions, while I truly understand why they're there, really take away from the social aspects of the game which I believe is a major draw. This is nothing more then the already existing trial accounts with no time limit.
F2P models allow for you to a la carte your experience in the game, higher levels, additional races/classes and so on with microtransactions much like real F2P games such as LotRO, D&DO, and Champions Online, beyond that the game is completely enjoyable and social.
Trial models force you to enjoy the game with heavy restrictions in the hopes that you will sign up for a full and active account in order to enjoy the rest of the content and take part in the social interaction and other ranges of content.
dms614 Jun 29th 2011 11:23AM
I think this will be an awesome way for players to test out the game. If they have played MMO's in the past they can judge this one in the first 20 levels and if they have never played an MMO...this might encourage them to take their time leveling a bit and be able to learn/practice more of the game mechanics.
I have a friend starting Wrath that asked me to come help with a quest and when I randomly inspected him I found him wearing a few cloth pieces with intellect on it (as a rogue!) I have to sit down with him and give him some serious pointers. If new people take their time and learn their classes in the beginning it makes the whole rest of the process more enjoyable!
StClair Jun 29th 2011 12:48PM
@Hob:
along with Sturgeon's Law.
aberent Jun 29th 2011 2:19PM
What do you guys think the best class/race would be for the free account?
Mzungu the Priest Jun 29th 2011 6:15PM
All of them :)
eShirl Jun 30th 2011 10:46AM
Something that gets a mount at 20 (paladin, warlock) or druid travel form. Unless you really like walking.
AOCarmona Jun 30th 2011 1:44AM
an MMORPG without chat or guild options is not much of an MMO I am afraid. I mean, without a way to access the community you may as well go solo or play an RPG. I like MMOs because I get to interact with other players, though it will be a good way to try out classes for free I suppose.
Barky Jun 30th 2011 1:23AM
So if BC is being rolled into vanilla now, does that mean we can get rid of those stupid loading screens for places like Ghostlands, and fly there? Make them part of Azeroth now.
Barky Jun 30th 2011 1:27AM
If I'm not mistaken trial accounts cannot be used to get into raids. I remember they made that change not too long ago and it pissed me off. They should just get rid of the stupid raid group requirement altogether and let people go in solo.
Barky Jun 30th 2011 1:30AM
Who cares, no one uses the crappy built in voice chat anyway. It's all vent.
h3internet Jun 30th 2011 11:08AM
I think it's great. I for one sent a recruit-a-friend trial to my second email address to start fast tracking alts on my new server to level 20. Worked like a charm. 300% XP bonus to level 20?? Yes, please.
wagners.mor Jun 30th 2011 2:27PM
What do you mean by "Starter Edition accounts are not eligible for character transfers"?
Lipstick Jul 1st 2011 11:54AM
You know.. I think this is a good change, in some ways. In other ways I think this is entirely terrible. World of Warcraft is a social game, so much of the experience is derived from other people, and this more or less prevents players from getting to engage in it. This has always been and will remain my complaint about trial accounts. I know the reasons why are a) to force you to buy the real deal and b) to prevent gold spammers from their antics, but it seems to me, the market for this is now so niche that I can't imagine anyone would get much use from this.