Blizzard has announced a new trial account system that removes the time limitations of the current free trial accounts.
After that you can choose to ditch your character and all that hard work, or cough up $20 and get the full game along with the Burning Crusade expansion which ups your level cap to 70 and opens Outlands, and the Blood Elf and Draenei races.
The firm has also decided to make the Burning Crusade expansion completely free to everyone who has the game and hasn't already bought it. Sorry, dedicated fans, no compensation for you. This is clearly for the new folk.
Is this a move by Blizzard to tighten its grip on the MMO scene before the BioWare's impressive-looking Star Wars: The Old Republic threatens to ruin its dominance?
Comments
13 comments so far...
deepbluerd on 28 Jun '11 said:
Thats a sweet ass deal they got there.
almanac2015 on 29 Jun '11 said:
I remember my WoW Trial. got to level 20 in about 3 days (on two characters) and had the full game on the fourth. About time BC was given away for free also. Though I find it worrying that it has been announced (WoW is showing its vulnerability), I did say a couple of months back that too many expansions can be off putting. Buying a game and three expansions is a bit too much, especially when paying a subscription. I'd have thought it would make sense to bundle WOW and the first two expansions, with Cataclysm separate.
I'm so getting back on WoW tomorrow.
The Big F on 29 Jun '11 said:
They could offer to have someone come round my house and give a free complimentary reach-around with my trial version, and I still wouldn't touch it.
Laughlyn on 29 Jun '11 said:
fed up of level caps? Constant expansions have to pay for? Paying every month? Just play Eve Online free to download, free expansions through the year and play game enough and u can play for free by buying gametime with ingame currency (legitly) and your character trains as long as u set a skill going and your accounts active.
I'll forever be baffled by WoW's popularity
spaceman_DOUG on 29 Jun '11 said:
The downside is you have to play Eve online.
Soviet1918 on 29 Jun '11 said:
you and me both , go get axe kill goblin mission complete next chase rabbits chop tree mission complete and so on and so fourth
nologo on 29 Jun '11 said:
yeah i played eve (played most popular mmo's).. and i couldnt get into it. just found it boring.
yeah good deal this, although hitting lvl 20 takes a few hours these days.. but if i hadnt played wow before..i would defo give this ago.
looking forward to getting home tonight to play the new patch.
Blumiere on 29 Jun '11 said:
You do get a fair few quests on your way to 20 thesedays so its a nice way to start for new people.
Imaduck on 29 Jun '11 said:
That is a Very sweet deal
Well played!
Pipster on 29 Jun '11 said:
Sweet deal? Hmm.. Didn't think so myself.. In terms of how much WOW you can experience it's pretty much the same limits and conditions as the old ten day free trial isn't it? Same content but a longer period for Blizzard to reel you in..
I played WOW for a few years myself and my advice to anyone thinking about trying it is enjoy the levelling process because once you hit lvl85 it's just a matter of time before preparing for endgame content becomes a domestic chore and running through different versions of the same content week after week becomes at best dull and at worst frustrating..
Imaduck on 29 Jun '11 said:
Um, yeah it is a sweet deal.
If I undrstand this right.......
It used to be:
2 week trial, then you had to buy WoW, yo also needed TBC, WOTLK and Cataclysm. That's a LOT of discs, boxes and cash for one game!
Now, it's free until level 20 so you can play as you will up until there. At that point, you upgrade to the full game AND get BC thrown in for about £14. That's a good deal. It's a great way to make getting into WoW more appealing to newcomers, as having to buy 4 boxes of discs to play one game was a bit off-putting no doubt.
spaceman_DOUG on 29 Jun '11 said:
It's not a good deal, you're practically renting a game, if you can call it a game.
Blumiere on 30 Jun '11 said:
Or just download them from the Blizzard store, BC costs a fiver, Lich King is probably 15 and Cata is 30.