In the past, if you wanted to jump into World of Warcraft, you had to but the Battle Chest, which contained the base game and many of the previously released expansions as a flat, upfront fee, along with needing to fork out for the monthly sub.
Blizzard has now tweaked how new users can play the game, by removing the Battle Chest completely. The new subscription page on Battle.net has removed the chest, and ditched the once-off entry fee.
“Get access to World of Warcraft and every expansion through Legion with your subscription—no additional purchase required. Begin your journey today and play up to level 110 through six expansions of adventure!”
It means that players who start now can get access to everything that World of Warcraft has to offer without having to cough up anything beyond the monthly subscription. That includes every single expansion right up until (but not including) the yet-to-be-released Battle for Azeroth. If you want access to that – which launches next month – you’ll have to cough up a little extra coin.
This change will make no difference to regular players of course, as Blizzard has traditionally made its expansions free when they release new ones anyway. The lower barrier of entry does, however, mean that you may have more people to play alongside.
As for Battle for Azeroth? It’s out on 14 August 2018, though the pre-patch is available right now.
“Azeroth paid a terrible price to end the apocalyptic march of the Legion’s crusade—but even as the world’s wounds are tended, it is the shattered trust between the Alliance and Horde that may prove hardest to mend. As this age-old conflict reignites, join your allies and champion your faction’s cause—Azeroth’s future will be forged in the fires of war.”
Last Updated: July 18, 2018
Original Heretic
July 18, 2018 at 10:02
I’ve wanted to play this game for years.
Even with this, still not going to happen, not with my crappity laptop.
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 10:04
I can play it on my shitty work PC. Wow does not need much. Just a really stable internet connection.
Original Heretic
July 18, 2018 at 10:06
I have a SERIOUSLY crappity laptop. It exists solely as a word processor for me to write, that’s it.
My PC gaming days are long, loooooong gone.
For the Emperor!
July 18, 2018 at 10:58
Too many impatient little shits for me to play this. They rush without tactics, making Warrior Tanking “not fun” when they pull everything. And also “no warriors” in the DPS role nonsense even if I out-geared them by far and my DPS was higher than theirs. It just became too much of a slog, and I really enjoyed Legion until I got to content where I needed real groups 🙁
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 11:02
I basically play for a month or two enjoying the story then log in for new content every now and then. Fortnite is more fun for me at this point in time. Fortnite Save the World that is.
For the Emperor!
July 18, 2018 at 11:06
If only they would make a Dragon Age or Mass Effect or Skyrim or Witcher style game in the WoW universe. They would have 10 million+ pre-orders 🙁
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 11:15
Skyrim has an MMO and I hated it. They said it changed but I have no time to return to something that already disappointed me. As for a Mass Effect MMO …. EA will just fuck it up like they did with The Old Republic.
BakedBagel
July 18, 2018 at 12:04
Stop pre-ordering video games.
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 12:08
I can’t. 😛
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b42f0dfd3dfc377bd29a9eb854cd469bd3696654179cbaf18ae01510a2570fb2.jpg
For the Emperor!
July 18, 2018 at 12:51
Jislaaik, that is not cheap!
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 13:59
That was my Vive Pro upgrade money.
Pariah
July 18, 2018 at 12:57
Man I wish I had even R399 for games in a month…
Kromas
July 18, 2018 at 13:59
Me too. This is my gaming budget for the rest of the year more or less.
For the Emperor!
July 18, 2018 at 12:48
Meant Blizzard should make a proper single player Warcraft RPG like those games. The Old Republic was cool enough (until I needed to group), but it just saddened me thinking all that effort could have gone into KotOR 3 🙁
Original Heretic
July 18, 2018 at 13:05
A single player RPG from Blizzard would be freakin’ amazing.
If they did that, they would very likely challenge CDPR as the reigning premium RPG makers.