Macworld: Free World of Warcraft demo now ...

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11 Replies Last post: Nov 20, 2006 9:16 AM by tallscot

MW Forums

12,220 posts since
Aug 2, 2004

Nov 17, 2006 11:10 AM

Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Blizzard has released a free 10-day demo of World of Warcraft, their popular online adventure game. more

Reenee

174 posts since
Mar 15, 2005

1. Nov 17, 2006 2:55 PM

in response to: MW Forums

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Alternatively, if you don't want to encounter the apocalyptic 6 gigabyte download, simply go down to your nearest retailer (Target, EB, Best Buy) and you can buy a 14-day demo for $2.

I don't know if Blizzard became merciful but at the end of the trial, if you want the full experience, they'll charge you a now-exorbitant $40 when the full game is now going for $20 everywhere. You can just buy the demo then buy the full game and save yourself money and long installation times (the demo disc has the ENTIRE game on one DVD versus the full retail game on 4 CDs).

MacTechAspen

377 posts since
Oct 15, 2004

2. Nov 17, 2006 3:29 PM

in response to: Reenee

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Quote:<hr />
Alternatively, if you don't want to encounter the apocalyptic 6 gigabyte download, simply go down to your nearest retailer (Target, EB, Best Buy) and you can buy a 14-day demo for $2.

<hr />

Unless of course your nearest retailer is a 3 hour drive.

I have avoided moving to WoW because of the cost of the disk from Internet sources, especially after Shadowbane became free. I am looking forward to the 10 day demo.

kingarthur

115 posts since
Oct 5, 2004

3. Nov 17, 2006 7:25 PM

in response to: Reenee

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Quote:<hr />
Alternatively, if you don't want to encounter the apocalyptic 6 gigabyte download, simply go down to your nearest retailer (Target, EB, Best Buy) and you can buy a 14-day demo for $2.

<hr />

Also then it wouldn't be "free".

Do you have to give them any credit card information to sign-up?

Reenee

174 posts since
Mar 15, 2005

4. Nov 17, 2006 10:40 PM

in response to: kingarthur

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Quote:<hr />
Quote:<hr />
Alternatively, if you don't want to encounter the apocalyptic 6 gigabyte download, simply go down to your nearest retailer (Target, EB, Best Buy) and you can buy a 14-day demo for $2.

<hr />

Also then it wouldn't be "free".

Do you have to give them any credit card information to sign-up?

<hr />

No.

The limitations of the demo are apparently disabling trading and auction house functions.

sigma8

613 posts since
Aug 30, 2004

5. Nov 18, 2006 12:43 AM

in response to: Reenee

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Interesting about those costs. I guess the other thing you'd lose by doing the demo, and then avoiding that $40 cost, would be your character! Probably not a big deal, but you'd possibly lose your two weeks of progress.

Reenee

174 posts since
Mar 15, 2005

6. Nov 18, 2006 2:19 AM

in response to: sigma8

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Quote:<hr />
Interesting about those costs. I guess the other thing you'd lose by doing the demo, and then avoiding that $40 cost, would be your character! Probably not a big deal, but you'd possibly lose your two weeks of progress.

<hr />

Consider it the most comfortable tutorial ever.

If you pick things up real fast, you can get to like Level 6 in 2-3 hours.

Rugby

1,300 posts since
Aug 28, 2004

7. Nov 18, 2006 5:02 AM

in response to: Reenee

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

the downloader says 2,87GB, still hefty but I assume that most that play these kind of games have a line so...

nerdbunnie

1 posts since
Nov 18, 2006

8. Nov 18, 2006 10:31 AM

in response to: MW Forums

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

This is news? Blizzard has been offering the free 10-day demo for anyone to download since at least August when they put up their Myspace page.

Ducallan

1 posts since
Jun 13, 2006

9. Nov 18, 2006 12:11 PM

in response to: sigma8

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Actually, you can preserve your 'demo' character.

I don`t know the steps, but I have a friend I introduced to WoW (I sold him my PC with the game already installed, but he used a trial account from Blizzard), and he decided to keep playing.

AFAIK, all he did was sign up for a permanent account using his credit card. He did not buy a boxed copy of the game. It is theoretcially possible that there is some slight difference in the downloadable version that would have forced him to buy a boxed copy before he could create a permanent account, but I doubt it.

However you 'acquire' the installation, I would expect that the character would still be preservable unless the demo account was unused for a long period.

SumterMUG

6 posts since
Nov 23, 2004

10. Nov 18, 2006 3:14 PM

in response to: Ducallan

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

The character you create in the demo remains after you sign up for a full account. Also, if you pay for the full version upgrade during your 10 or 14 day trial (Refer-A-Friend via your WoW account is 10 day), you still get the remainder of your free trial time, plus the first month free that you would normally get if you just purchased the game outright. It is a great way to get the most for your money. Basically, by doing it this way, you get 44 days of free time for your $20. I have had several friends do it this way, and it works great.

Also, as to the cost via the World of Warcraft site, a friend of mine only paid $20 to upgrade his account.

If you have an account, and have a friend or 5 that wants to play, do the refer-a-friend through your WoW account. Not only do they get 10 days free, but once they pay for their first regular month of play after the 30 days free, you get a free month of game-time.

P.S.
As to the credit card part, they require you to use a credit card to verify your age, but they do not charge your card unless you decide to upgrade after the free time.

tallscot

1,829 posts since
Jan 31, 2001

11. Nov 20, 2006 9:16 AM

in response to: sigma8

Re: Free World of Warcraft demo now available

Quote:<hr />
Interesting about those costs. I guess the other thing you'd lose by doing the demo, and then avoiding that $40 cost, would be your character! Probably not a big deal, but you'd possibly lose your two weeks of progress.

<hr />

They have had a free 10-day trial for a while now. I did it weeks ago. You don't lose your character if you decide to keep playing or not. You get an account and the account stays active. If you decide to play the game, you can buy more time from retailers without having to get a Blizzard subscription that puts "Your husband is wasting his time playing WoW and charging $12 a month to do it" on your credit card bill.

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Nov 17, 2006 11:10 AM

Free World of Warcraft demo now available

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