World of Warcraft free trial version is now unlimited length (until lv 20)

Though severely restricted. It's more like "get a taste of the game". Level cap 20, can't have more than 10g, can't use the AH or even the mailbox, etc.

Basically the "Endless free trial" from Warhammer Online then.

Also i totally thought this was a prank. Misleading thread title, man!

This isn't that much different from Trial Accounts. But still, all aboard the bandwagon!

edited 28th Jun '11 8:37:31 PM by Neo_Crimson

Kind of pointless. Someone with absolutely no knowledge of how the game or any other MMO works could hit the level 20 cap post Cataclysm four and five times over with a 15 day trial.

Sooner or later those three magic words aren't going to mean anything even to the thickest of potential customers in the market.

My brother has created 5 or 6 trial accounts over the years for when he's bored and doesn't have WOW time. This new setup is for the best, believe me.

So how is this different from their existing trial accounts?

Indefinite length?

Yes. Basically, you can go up to level 20, but you :

• can't use the AH, trade with other players, and can have a max of 10g
• can't invite to parties, can only be invited, can't play with anyone over level 20
• can't communicate at all, save /say, /whisper, and party chat, and you're not allowed to initiate whispers to anyone (which makes sense - prevents spammers)
• can't do voice chat

At first, I thought this was a snowclone.

And I think that's all I have to say. ^And I can see not many Free-to-players, then, making the feature rather pointless.

edited 28th Jun '11 9:26:49 PM by RocketDude

That's... kinda crappy. Not enough to make me jump onto the WoW bandwagon.

Being unlimited, however, will allow people to enjoy WOW at their one pace, and help them decide if they want to stay on.

Funnily enough, when I played, level 20 is exactly the point when I decided the game wasn't worth playing.

edited 28th Jun '11 10:30:36 PM by INUH

Pretty much the same here. I just wasn't feeling it.

It is rather restrictive, but the game already has tons of problems with gold spammers and the like. Plus, I'd rather see a lower level cap then restrictions on classes like other games. Maybe you'll hate the game at the level cap, the right class might make you pay for the game until you reach that point.

Still ain't touching it.

So if I level to 20 then buy the full game I keep my character, correct?

Yes. It would make a poor teaser if you couldn't keep going with money.

Does "free-to-play" in this context mean that you still have to buy the game, but play without subscription, or the free-to-play edition is downloadable for free?

edited 29th Jun '11 1:52:29 AM by MilosStefanovic

No, you don't need to buy the game. If you buy the game, it comes with 30 days of play. (and no restrictions)

Well, in that case, it's not such a bad offer. Thanks for the info.

@ former title

Videogame journalism in its finest.

Thank you for your swift response.

edited 29th Jun '11 2:14:53 AM by Aminatep

Corrected title into something slightly less misleading.

World Of Warcraft's gonna be interesting when The Old Republic comes out. If that really takes off, Blizzard will want to do something pretty awesome.

They're already doing lots of stuff that they feel is awesome. Unfortunately for them, they seem to have diverged quite a bit from player opinion in that area.

What was the title before? I'm guessing it didn't have the brackets?

Before it claimed that World of Warcraft was now free to play which isn't quite the same as an unlimited trial.