Buzz
World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most well-known online games worldwide, and now anyone can play it for free without any time constraints. Although your account will have some restrictions, you're free to explore the game for as long as you'd like. For experienced players, it's possible to use in-game gold to purchase additional playtime directly from Blizzard and keep playing WoW without spending real money.
Steps
Create a Free Starter Account
Understand what free accounts can do. Free accounts can level up to level 20 (out of a total of 120 levels) and can continue playing after reaching the maximum level (without earning additional experience). Free accounts are also limited to a maximum of 10 gold. There are communication limitations within the game, and free accounts cannot join guilds.
- If you've subscribed but your subscription has expired, your account will be downgraded to a Starter account and will be subject to the same limitations as new players, except that your character can join the same guild as other characters. You cannot create a character with a level higher than 20, but you can create new characters.
- Using a Starter account is a good way to play as much as you want to decide if World of Warcraft is the right game for you.
Visit the Battle.net account creation page for World of Warcraft. You can access this page at https://us.battle.net/account/creation/wow/signup/ if you're in the United States. Otherwise, go to battle.net and find the account creation page for your country.
- If you already have a Battle.net account, you can log in and start downloading World of Warcraft right away.
Fill out the account creation form. Be sure to provide a valid email address so you can verify your account. No credit card is required for the free version. After completing the form, click the "Play it Free" button to proceed.
Click "Download the game" to begin downloading World of Warcraft. If you accidentally close the browser or need to re-download the file, you can get it from us.battle.net/account/download/index.xml.
Run the installer. The World of Warcraft installer is small, so it will download quickly. Once downloaded, open the file to install Battle.net.
- Battle.net is the program that runs World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games.
Verify your Battle.net account during installation. You will receive a verification email at the address you provided when creating your account. Follow the link in the email to verify your Battle.net account.
Log in to Battle.net with your newly created account. World of Warcraft will prompt you to begin the installation. Click "Start Install" to begin the download process.
Wait for World of Warcraft to download and install. World of Warcraft is a large game (70 GB), so the download will take quite a while, even with the fastest connection.
- You'll also need to ensure that you have enough disk space to install the game. Find ways to free up disk space if necessary.
Start playing. Once World of Warcraft has finished downloading, you can launch the game from Battle.net and begin your adventure. You'll need to select a server and create a character before you start.
- New players should avoid RP (role-playing) and PVP (player-versus-player) servers until they get the hang of the game mechanics and gain some experience.
- Embark on your journey and discover the best features of the game!
Extend your subscription with in-game gold
Understand the process. On April 6, 2015, an update to World of Warcraft introduced the WoW Token. This is an item players can purchase to extend their World of Warcraft subscription for 30 days. The token can be bought with real money, then sold in the Auction House within the game in exchange for gold. This allows you to extend your subscription using gold earned during gameplay.
- Since Starter accounts can't access the Auction House and WoW Tokens are expensive, this isn't a viable option for free Starter accounts. You'll need a paid subscription to access the Auction House and accumulate enough gold to extend your subscription.
Collect enough gold. When listed in the Auction House, the price of a WoW Token ranges between 200,000 to 300,000 gold (depending on the server). The price is determined by players and fluctuates based on supply and demand. However, WoW Tokens are still quite expensive, so you'll need a stable and abundant gold income to buy them each month.
- If you farm gold effectively, you could earn around 1,000-2,000 gold per hour. This means you can expect to be able to buy a WoW Token after a few weeks of gold farming.
Open the Auction House. You can use gold to purchase WoW Tokens from the Auction House. The Auction House can be accessed from most major cities in World of Warcraft, with many cities offering more than one Auction House.
- The Auction House lists items for both factions, so you'll see the same listing in any Auction House you visit.
Select the "Game Time" option. This will display the full list of available WoW Tokens.
Set your bid or buy the Token to acquire it. The Token will be sent to your Inbox. Click on the Token in your mail to add it to your inventory.
Right-click on 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. The 30 days will be added to the end of your current subscription period. The new renewal date will be shown in the window. The final step is to click "Accept" to confirm again.
- You will receive a confirmation email at your Battle.net account's email address confirming that the transaction has been completed.
