Getting Started on your Free Trial – World of Warcraft
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How to Get World of Warcraft for Free – wikiHow
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World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most popular online games in the world, and now anyone can play for free without time restrictions. Your account will be limited, but you’ll be able to explore the game for as long as you want. If you are an experienced player, you can use your stacks of Gold to purchase game time directly from Blizzard, allowing you to continue playing WoW without spending any real money.
1
Understand what a free account can do. Free accounts can be leveled up to Level 20 (out of a possible 120 levels), and can continue to play after hitting the cap (without accruing additional XP). Free accounts are also limited to 10 Gold. Free accounts also have limits on in-game communication, and cannot join Guilds. [1]
If you have a subscription that’s lapsed, your account will turn into a Starter account with all the same restrictions except that your character will have the ability to join the same Guild as any of your other characters. You won’t have access to any of your characters above Level 20, but you can create new characters.
Starter accounts are a great way to play for as long as you want to decide if World of Warcraft is for you.
2
Visit the Account Creation page for World of Warcraft. You can access it at if you live in the US. Otherwise, visit and find the account creation page for your country.
If you already have a account, you can log in and download World of Warcraft immediately.
3Fill out the account creation form. Make sure to use a valid email address so that you can confirm your account. You don’t need a credit card to sign up for the free version. Click the “Play it Free” button after filling out the form.
4Click “Download the game” to begin downloading World of Warcraft. If you accidentally closed your browser or need to download the file again, you can get it from
5
Run the installer. The World of Warcraft installer file is very small, and should finish downloading in just a few moments. Once it’s finished downloading, open it to install
is the launcher program for World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games.
6Verify your account while the launcher is installing. You should have received a verification email at the address that you entered when creating the account. Follow the link in the email to verify your account.
7Log into with the account you just created. World of Warcraft will prompt you to begin installation. Click “Start Install” to begin downloading it.
8
Wait for World of Warcraft to download and install. World of Warcraft is a big game (70 GB), so downloading will take a while on even the fastest connections.
You’ll also want to ensure that you have enough disk space to install the game. Click here for tips on freeing up space.
9
Understand the process. On April 6th, 2015 an update to World of Warcraft introduced WoW Tokens. These are items that players can redeem for 30 days of a World of Warcraft subscription. Tokens can be purchased for real money and then sold in the in-game Auction House for Gold. This allows you to effectively purchase your subscription from Gold you earn playing the game. [2]
Because Starter Accounts can’t access the Auction House, and because WoW tokens are very expensive, this isn’t a viable method for free Starter accounts. You’ll need to be a paying subscriber in order to access the Auction House and earn enough gold to extend your subscription.
Gather enough gold. When the Wow Tokens launched, they were put on the Auction House for around 200k-300k gold (depending on the server). The price is now set by the players, and fluctuates based on supply and demand. Regardless, WoW Tokens are still quite expensive, so you’ll want to have an ample regular income of Gold to afford it monthly.
If you farm for Gold efficiently, you can earn around 1, 000-2, 000 Gold per hour. This means you could reasonably expect to be able to afford a WoW token after a few weeks of farming.
3
Open the Auction House. You can use your gold to purchase WoW Tokens from the Auction House. You can access the Auction House from most major cities throughout World of Warcraft, and many cities have more than one Auction House location.
Auction House listings are linked for the whole faction, so you’ll find the same listings from any Auction House you have access to.
4Select the “Game Time” category. This will display all of the active listings for WoW Tokens.
5Place a bid or buyout the Token to acquire it. The Token will be delivered to your Inbox. Click the Token in the Inbox message to add it to your inventory.
6
Right-click the Token in your inventory. Click the “30 Days of Game Time” button to confirm that you want to add the time to your account. 30 days of playtime will be added to the end of your current subscription. Your new renewal date will be displayed in the window. Finally, click “Accept” to confirm again.
You will receive a confirmation email at your account email address letting you know that the transaction went through.
Add New Question
Question
Can starter accounts access private servers?
Private servers aren’t connected to Blizzard, anyway. You only need to start an account on the private server’s site and download to play.
Is there any way to get World of Warcraft Legion for free?
No. Multiplayer games are extremely hard to crack or pirate.
What are all of the restrictions with having a free account?
Viktor Alexander Magnus Agestav
Community Answer
The level cap is 20, goldcap is around 10, and gold and a lot of social features are restricted. If you want to try the game, I recommend buying 1 month of play time in order to get further.
Does the Gametime will stop if I don’t play for some days?
No. Your Gametime will still count down even when not online at the game.
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Is World of Warcraft Worth Playing in 2020 – Game Rant
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Is World of Warcraft Worth Playing in 2020
World of Warcraft is shaking things up with a new expansion and level squish to get players interested in a return to Azeroth this year.
The tail end of 2020 is arriving and gamers are about to have more titles to choose from than there are hours in the day. The launch of two new consoles, brand new high end graphics cards, and a barrage of AAA games are sure to make fall 2020 a busy (and expensive) season for fans of gaming. With so much cutting edge tech on the table and dozens of brand new games competing for the attention of the community, how much of a chance does a 16 year old PC game that still requires a subscription model like World of Warcraft really have?
Although it may sound like the odds are stacked against it, World of Warcraft is poised to have a very big spike in popularity as the end of the year arrives. The nearly two decade old Blizzard MMO has a dedicated fanbase at any given time, but there is always a big spike in subscribers when a new expansion drops. That spike is likely to be even bigger this time around as Shadowlands rolls out and makes some major changes to Azeroth that some World of Warcraft players are anxious to experience.
Battle for Azeroth generated some good hype at launch, but ultimately did not end up a fan-favorite in quite the same way that the previous expansion, Legion, did. There were some valid complaints about the endgame and post launch content for BfA and Blizzard seems to be learning from its mistakes once again and optimizing World of Warcraft’s 2020 expansion in a way that will help avoid some of those problems. Part of the reason for delaying the launch of Shadowlands to late November was to tweak the endgame experience and make sure it is more in line with what fans are looking for based on feedback from the extensive alpha and beta testing.
So, with so many other options on the table is it worth if to dive into World of Warcraft in 2020? Obviously that’s going to depend what each individual gamer is looking for this fall and early winter. The level squish dramatically changed the grind in World of Warcraft by making level 50 the current max (it will rise to 60 when Shadowlands arrives) and making it way more tempting and less daunting to create alt and new characters. Although most gamers have likely tried out World of Warcraft at one point or another by now, this change does make diving into the game more approachable than ever. There is a new starting zone that takes players from level 1 to 10 and teaches them the basics of the game and their class in a way that WoW never really took the time to do before. From there, players are able to select any one of the eras of World of Warcraft and level up through a full expansion story, rather than jumping from expac to expac without ever finishing a whole narrative.
It’s clearly a great time to get started in the game for players who are interested to pick up the classic and get hooked just in time for Shadowlands, but it’s also a pretty enticing time for veteran players. There has been a lot of speculation and drama surrounding the major class changes and Covenant abilities arriving with Shadowlands, but overall hype amongst the engaged WoW community it still very high. The delayed release date could signal some problems with the expansion, but Blizzard already has a habit of not releasing a product until the team is sure it is finished, so that isn’t exactly a dealbreaker. Many old school players returned to Azeroth for the WoW Classic servers last year and it will be interesting to see how many of those fans will take a break from grinding through their vanilla raids to check out the new and improved retail version of WoW.
The level squish is definitely ushering in a new era of WoW, but that probably isn’t enough to will everyone over. The Shadowlands expansion also brings some exciting new zones, updated character customizations, and a ton of other brand new features to the MMO. Gamers who want to experience the new expansion at the height of its popularity should definitely make some time in late fall and early December for the 50-60 grind and the new endgame experience.
There’s nothing quite like working through Mythic Dungeons and new Raids right as an expansion launches to see the most exciting parts of the MMO community and experience as players work together to crack each puzzle and find the best strategies for different fights and obstacles. Some of that magic fades away from the game once everything is “solved” and there are optimized routes and plans established as best practices throughout the community. For those reasons, it is definitely worth playing Wow in 2020 to see what the early days of Shadowlands are like as the Horde and Alliance both usher in a new era for the iconic MMO.
Blizzard is clearly hoping Shadowlands can help bring about another WoW renaissance and things are off to a strong start. The expansion’s pre-sales are already doing incredibly well and the recent Welcome Back event offered lapsed subscribers a chance to dive back into WoW and see what the Shadowlands pre-patch era is like. It will be very interesting to see how strong subscription numbers are when the new expansion launches and whether or not WoW is able to hold onto that influx of players in the months after Shadowlands is out. Hopefully an engaging endgame and steady flow of post launch content are delivered and can keep the community logging in throughout the end of 2020 and into the new year.
Be sure to check back in the coming weeks as more details about Shadowlands emerge. Until then, For the Horde!
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands launches globally on November 23 for PC.
MORE: Every World Of Warcraft Expansion, Ranked (According To Metacritic)
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Denny Connolly
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Denny Connolly is an editor and contributor who joined the Game Rant team in 2014. He specializes in game guides, MMO coverage, and the Pokemon GO beat; but is a lifelong fan of all game genres. He’s a graduate of Penn State where he studied English and Education.
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Frequently Asked Questions about world of warcraft play
Can you play World of Warcraft for free?
World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most popular online games in the world, and now anyone can play for free without time restrictions. … If you are an experienced player, you can use your stacks of Gold to purchase game time directly from Blizzard, allowing you to continue playing WoW without spending any real money.
Is WoW Worth Playing 2020?
The level squish is definitely ushering in a new era of WoW, but that probably isn’t enough to will everyone over. … For those reasons, it is definitely worth playing Wow in 2020 to see what the early days of Shadowlands are like as the Horde and Alliance both usher in a new era for the iconic MMO.Nov 9, 2020
Is it worth playing WoW in 2021?
Torghast hasn’t been for everyone, and it can still be a vexing element of the game whenever runs go awry, but it’s yet another addition to World of Warcraft’s endgame content that has improved and diversified its experience. … For these reasons, World of Warcraft is still very much worth playing in 2021.Oct 6, 2021