Posts with tag free-trial

A few months back, Blizzard teased that a new service would be hitting WoW that would allow members of the same faction to group and queue for random dungeons across servers. Players would need to be Real ID friends with the people they wanted to invite into a group and would be limited to 5-man dungeons; no raids or world content would be available to cross-server groups.

The service has apparently just gone live, free, for what is probably a limited time. Blizzard had also said that this cross-realm grouping would be part of the premium package of WoW services that players can pay for monthly, and only the group leader doing the invites would have to have the service in order to invite people cross-realm. Much as the mobile guild chat feature was rolled out free to let people check it out, it appears cross-realm Real ID grouping is getting the same trial period.

Check out cross-realm Real ID grouping in game, and start grouping with your friends beyond server boundaries, and hit the jump for the full announcement.

Welcome! It's a good day to be one of the few remaining human beings who isn't playing World of Warcraft. While previously players who set up a new trial account were limited by 14 days of playtime and a level cap, Blizzard announced today that players on any trial account are able to play the game forever for free. The catch, of course, is that players are capped at level 20 until they upgrade. You can try out any of the races and classes available up through The Burning Crusade expansion, including the blood elves and draenei, with no time limit and no limit on characters created.

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

For a full list of the restrictions placed on endless trial accounts, check after the break.

This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

Gaming is a social activity ... Well, it always has been for me. I've always played games (from TCG to pen-and-paper RPGs, from the arcade to home consoles) with other people. Any game I enjoyed, I shared with my friends. So when I finally joined my boyfriend in World of Warcraft, I tried getting a few other friends into the game. It was a good way for all of us to stay connected while we were at different schools, as well as replace our D&D and Mutants and Mastermind campaigns until the summer.

A few of my friends joined my boyfriend and me in Azeroth. Some stayed, some didn't -- but the majority didn't even want to give WoW a first or (for some) second chance on a trial account. When I asked them why, I was given these reasons:

• "I don't need four nights of raiding a week."
• "I don't need to play a game that's gonna act as a second job."
• "I don't like paying more than once to play a game."
• "It's too addictive."

Though I think some of these are invalid excuses, I will let my friends be until the next game I get into. Do you have friends that just won't try even the trial account? What excuses do they give you?