If you’re scratching around for something to do, Blizzard may now have the ultimate solution. World of Warcraft and each and every one of its expansion packs that are currently out are now totally free. That’s world of WarCraft plus six expansion packs, encompassing 110 levels of gameplay.
Previously, WoW players would have to snaffle up the game and the latest expansion in order to play, but now all you need to do is pay for the monthly subscription and you’ll have full access to the entire experience.
The only thing that isn’t included in the upcoming World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth expansion pack. This is a separate purchase and will set you back £39.99. This probably indicates that Battle for Azeroth will become free once the subsequent expansion rolls around, likely in 2020.
For Blizzard and WoW, this represents a massive change in how it does things. World of WarCraft is, alongside Final Fantasy XIV, one of the few remaining subscription-based MMOs. Getting into the game could be a daunting process but now the experience should be far more streamlined. Simply pay for a sub and log-in to have access to the base game and six expansions.
Meanwhile, the hype is building for Battle for Azeroth. The pre-patch is arriving this week and there will be three weeks of special events leading to the launch of Battle for Azeroth on August 14th. It raises the level cap from 110 to 120, adding the Kul Tiras and Zandalar continents for exploration along with the new Warfronts 20-player PvE mode against NPCs. There will also be four new Allied Races to play as, including the Lightforged Draenei and the Nightborne.
WoW: Battle for Azeroth also moves the long-running game to DirectX 12 for the first time in its history. This includes the usual token increase on the system requirements. More on that here.
Who’s tempted to hop into WoW now Blizzard has made it easier than ever? Now over 15 years old, when do you think World of Warcraft’s appeal is finally going to wane?
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PC Specs
EVE has also become subscription free, didn't even notice. iRacing still has subscription (next to, that you have buy each and every track if you need to drive on them, which is each 12-15 bucks = 5 years + all tracks 1000 bucks approx.)
PC Specs
Slightly sad that I never played World of Warcraft. Seems like at this time it's too late to learn all the things about the game,
PC Specs
It was best experienced 10 or so years ago...... WoWs gameplay mechanics have become the basis for pretty much every tab targeting MMORPG in existence, so you don't really need to look far if you want a taste of that gameplay experience..... The lore, art style, and overall polish on the other hand are what keeps it from essentially being "just another WoW clone"....... It's worth a play if you haven't experienced it yet, but I personally don't think it's worth a monthly sub.
PC Specs
But its not too late! There are a few good TBC & WoTLK private servers (blizzlike) with great scripting, almost everything is as it was back in the day! Also, with enough people for a fulfilling experience. Not sure how the vanilla servers are, but I'm sure there are several as well
PC Specs
The major problem with private servers for WoW is that you never know how long they'll be up, and if they do get stepped on by Blizzard, you lose all your progress....... also viruses are a major concern, It's not at all unheard of for private WoW servers to require you to install unsafe files...... other than those concerns, yeah, private servers would definitely be the way to go.
PC Specs
It's not too late, blizzard knowingly has made WoW super user-friendly(to the dislike of old and hardcore players) and there are tons of quick and helpful guides for new players on the net.
PC Specs
Blizzard (Creators of World of Warcraft) are working on releasing the classic version of the game. So don't worry, you will be able to experience the game like many of us did for the first time. Somewhat at least - They might implement a few changes, mostly improvements hopefully.
PC Specs
I haven't played Vanilla, I started in the burning crusade patch 2.1.0, so I'm very hyped about Vanilla, hopefully, more than 10k players play it.
PC Specs
I mean..... took them long enough..... though I think it should be B2P instead, just dropping the sub entirely.... but atleast it's something.
PC Specs
This doesn't mean much, after a month, when BFA launches, all of this would be dirt cheap (like, 10 bucks or less) and only the new expansion becomes expensive (also, if you're new to WoW, when a new expansion launches, the older ones can not be played, its like an addition to what previously you've had, bud locked until you buy the newest one)
PC Specs
Can't see how this will change much apart from hurtng the new player base for not getting a free character boost, instead of paying like 80 euro now you will have to pay 50 euro for the expansion. So you lose char boost but pay less so its both a win and a loss.
PC Specs
the battlechest was 15 euro, the new expansion is 45 euro for a brand new player it's 60 euro + 1 "free" month, with the battlechest you basically paid 15 euro for a subscription + free level 100, which was a super deal, considering how often it was 50% off leaving it at 7.5 euro for that.
PC Specs
If only they'd make the subscription cheaper so that my friends would actually want to pay for it...
PC Specs
Holy **** did i dodge a bullet for not buying it a month ago.
PC Specs
you missed a level 100 boost and if you have played before and haven't played in a long time, you'd want one.
But if you are new, sure.
PC Specs
I'm waiting for the vanilla servers, might buy a month or 2 though to quest through the last 2 expansions which I missed.
Definitely won't get Battle for Azeroth.
PC Specs
Dude BfA will be epic and yes Vanilla servers and all other Expansion servers are very welcomed, especially if they make them progressive
PC Specs
They already said they're working on Vanilla Servers, they will definitely come.
PC Specs
yeah I know, but we don't know if it will be progressive or just flat 1.12, anyways I want to play vanilla as I started in TBC and Vanilla is too big of a time investment to play on a private server that may or may not close.
Progressive servers would be the best. For vanilla every month a progression to the next patch due to the many patches and repeat, for the rest maybe a season/quarter per patch and repeat, or again every month they roll out the next patch and it happens 3-4 times a year, for WoD 6 times XD
They'd just lock out gear when they reset the patch.
PC Specs
Honestly I'm hoping that they don't do that and instead release a new interpretation of Vanilla (larger bags, updated grafics, higher difficulty level) but keep the hardcore mentality of it and then leave it as it is.
I don't wanna play TBC, I just want it to stay on Vanilla.
PC Specs
No what I meant is that each expansion will get its own progressiveness.
IF you go to play Vanilla you will stay on vanilla, but every month the "new"(next) patch will come out, so you start in January at 1.0 for example and by December 1.12 will be out and you will be doing that content again and when January of next year comes they just reset it to 1.0.
The other option is to have content locked out until you finish the previous content which will leave out many latecomers as if you come in late most people will have reached end-game content.
PC Specs
Because if they just launch 1.12 straight up it will basically make old content irrelevant, though IDK if that is true for Vanilla, but it's true for the rest of the expansions. If you come at end-game expansion you can easily outgear the older/first raids and dungeons of the expansion.
PC Specs
I always pictured they would just roll through the content updates from 1.0, probably at an accelerated pace
PC Specs
@Jon sadly I'm expecting that but imo that would be a HUGE missed opportunity.
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Blizzard has confirmed the classic version will run on patch 1.12.1. due to it being the most stable and polished. However, content not meant to be available, will still be locked away and out of reach for players - Meaning only content such as Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair will be available during launch, same goes for dungeons, quests, items etc.
PC Specs
Oh, dude, I didn't know that, freaking awesome, you made my day, thanks :)
Progressive servers are the best!
PC Specs
@Jon that's what I said, that's how progressive servers work. They "roll through" content starting from the first patch to the last patch at a much faster pace as it's already developed and ready to use.