There are some great introductions and threads that are a good place to start if you're new to F2P, unsure what it entails, and want to learn more about what is and isn't possible with free WoW.
1.1 Introduction to F2P
Create a new F2P account
here (US) or
here (EU)!
While I still recommend reading the first thread I'm linking below this, there have been some changes since MoP that are not reflected in that thread: |
New races: Not only Draenei/Blood Elves, but also Worgen, Goblins and Pandaren are now available to F2P.
Monk class isn't.
New zones: Northrend is available.
Pandaria isn't.
There are more F2P communities besides Aerie Peak now. |
Start out by reading the first posts of these two threads, keeping in mind the MoP changes:
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Free to Play: 20 Twinking and You by
Opinion
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Free to Play FAQ and Information by
iaccidentallytwink
1.2 How F2P Communities Work : The F2P Addon
If you want to be able to communicate with other F2P twinks on your server (and so much more), read the following post to learn about the features of the awesome F2PAddon:
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Yasueh's Macros and Addons for F2P by
Yasueh
It's possible for any player to join any community they like. Increased latency / lag is of course possible. Aerie Peak US has the largest F2P communities on both factions and there are players from both the US and EU. With a New York datacenter most people do not experience any connection issues.
Aerie Peak Alliance is the less populated of the two communities and seems to be in a declining phase at the moment, but since many people have characters on AP Ally, this could change again, as it has in the past.
1.3 Changing your Region / Realm List
Keep in mind that changing the realmlist doesn't work since MoP, as the file doesn't exist anymore. If you want to play on servers not in your region, you have two options. You could install a separate client for the region you want to access, or change your WoW installation.
More on creating a US trial account:
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European F2P Players @ US - Quick help. by
lindenkron
Here's a simple thing I tried with the MoP installation and that worked for me:
Changing your Client |
Choose one:
- edit your client and edit it back after, or
- if you have the room, do what I did: copy the entire installation into another folder (called WoW 2 or something).
|
In the copy / in your client open the file Config.wtf in the WTF folder in any text editor (I used a code editor because Mac TextEdit screws code up sometimes).
Programs > World of Warcraft > WTF > Config.wtf |
Find the line for your region:
SET locale "enGB" (or SET locale "enUS")
Change it to the region you want to play:
SET locale "enUS" (for US servers, or SET locale "enGB" for EU servers) |
Save the file and that's it. |
Both US and EU Realms have thriving F2P communities. If you are interested in the activities possible, have a look at:
1.4 Videos
If you want to talk to your friends / other players in your community or bracket, you can download and make use of voice communication softwares like
Skype, Ventrilo,
Mumble or
RaidCall. Ventrilo and Mumble require a server to log on to, RaidCall and Skype don't. RaidCall runs on Windows only.
Twinkinfo sadly no longer provides a Ventrilo server for TI members.
For those now using another Vent server, or in case our Vent ever comes back, here's my old step-by-step guide how to set up the software:
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How to set up and use Ventrilo by
Yde