Surely you have heard of the mythical game World of Warcraft, better known as WoW. This game has been on the market for years and is one of the first to be based on subscription and not purchase of the game. Possibly, you do not want to be paying every month or at least, not at first. Well, you know that you can play WoW for free.
For those who do not know what WoW is, it is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by Blizzard. The original game was released in November 2004, although it would not arrive in Europe until February 2004. Although the game is almost 20 years old, during this time it has received many expansions, updates and improvements.
Enjoy WoW without having to pay
WoW is a game that is based on a hybrid system to obtain income and thus maintain the game, servers and development. On the one hand, we have the monthly subscription that is paid to be able to access the official servers. On the other hand, we have the acquisition of expansions, which are usually released annually.
There are four plans, although two of them involve the same amount. We can subscribe to the monthly plan in which we will pay 12.99 euros every month. They have a three-month plan, where we will be charged 11.99 euros/month and we will have savings of 12 euros per year (come on, one month free.
Then we have the six-month plan and the twelve-month plan. Both plans have the same price of 10.99 euros/month , which means a saving of 24 euros per year (or two months free). Note that none of these fees include expansions, which are paid separately.
One of the problems that Blizzard has detected is the number of unofficial servers that exist that are cheaper than the company’s plan. To prevent users from using these servers, WoW is free to play, but with conditions.
To begin with, we must never have played WoW with our account before (nothing prevents creating a second account or more). The other condition is that we will not be able to pass level 20 in the game without paying. If we want to continue progressing in the game and enjoy everything it offers us, we must inevitably go through the checkout.
What alternatives exist for not paying?
Realistically, few. Occasionally and for short periods, the game is opened to everyone. During these periods we can play as much as we want without paying. The bad thing is that these periods are usually a weekend, at most.
Another alternative is to participate in raffles from content creators who give away expansions when they come out or memberships. It is not a complete solution either, since once the period is over we will have to pay.
The last option is to connect to unofficial WoW servers. There are some pretty good ones and even very cheap alternative paid servers. But of course, here we run the risk of connecting to a server with a dubious reputation and having our credentials leaked.
You should know that if you play on unofficial servers, you will not be able to transfer your progress to the official servers. So, if you reach the maximum level and it gives you pay, you will have to start from scratch.