Updating F2P FAQ

[Vandiir]

Cannot use voice chat or Real ID in game, but can use Real ID over the Battle.net App. ??

I believe this requires the Starter account to be linked to an account that was subscribed at some point in the past. I can't be sure on this because all my Starter accounts are linked. Should verify this with someone who has an unlinked account.

Pure starter accounts do not need to be linked to an account that's subbed (and confirmed with an unlinked starter), since it'll be part of a battle.net account regardless (as one would need to make a battle.net account before they can make a game account).

In summary, there's WoW accounts (and their varying status) and the overall battle.net account (which basically is a basket containing multiple blizzard-game accounts, all accessible under one email and password login). It doesn't matter what the battle.net account has or does not have: it still will be able to communicate to other battle.net accounts through the desktop app. For example, a battle.net account that only has Starcraft 2 or Heroes of the Storm (among others), but not WoW, can still communicate to battle.net accounts that do have a (or multiple) WoW account(s) (whether that's starter or not).


And to conclude with that battle.net account as a basket description, "linking" two WoW accounts is basically moving a WoW account from a different battle.net account to your "main" battle.net account. Indeed, when one learns a bind-on-account item, it's battle.net account wide, or accessible by all WoW accounts that are within that battle.net account that has it.

 

[Srs]

Not to bring up old stuff, but my garrisons make well over the 20k or so needed to buy a token every month. The only reason I don't is that I have a nasty twinking habit and I need the gold. So basically, I'm paying $15 for 20k-ish gold a month. At some point my income might exceed my expenditures, at which point the game will, more or less, be buy-to-play. Just about anyone that's been playing for awhile can easily get to the point where they can pay your monthly sub with passive garrison missions. No real farming, or actual playing of the game, needed.

I said this was probably going to be the case, before, when we were talking about dividing up the sub-sections. My point here is not to stir up old arguments, I just want to point out that since Yde is taking the time to update her guide, I wanted to suggest that she think about where the game is heading in order to "future-proof" her guide a little.

-The way I see it, is that the only difference between a true starter account and a vet is never paying for an battlechest nor expansion.

-The only difference between vet and active account is neither investing the money nor time to acquire a token.

Note that time equals money. Having a vet account (non-active upgraded account) is basically laziness, or deliberate being obstinate, in my opinion because if you've gone as far enough to upgrade to battlechest, and buy enough time to farm gear for your toons, you might as well get WoD in order to get access to the garrisons that will pay your subscription for you.

So anyway, I'm not 100% where I'm going with this, other than to point out that if you're doing it right, World of Warcraft could already be fully buy-to-play, or in effect, f2p after the initial investment. I guess that's just it: WoW is currently, more or less, f2p. All these silly dichotomies are superfluous.

Food for thought.

 

[Aradiel]

So anyway, I'm not 100% where I'm going with this, other than to point out that if you're doing it right, World of Warcraft could already be fully buy-to-play, or in effect, f2p after the initial investment.

The point of this thread is to highlight the actual differences between the accounts, not the no true Scotsman, purity, names, pointless random crap. Things like the fact that when it first came out, F2P could use Btag friends, while vets could not. Things like the profession differences, and specifically what you can and can't do on each account, and the differences between them.

As for the tokens, they just made it official. Time = money = gold. It's always been that way. The only difference is that now Blizz have given players an official way to buy gold and buy game time. Before the tokens, people would sell recruit a friend time and mounts for gold. I'm sure I wasn't alone in selling gold and virtual items for money or gold.

 

[Srs]

The point of this thread is to highlight the actual differences between the accounts, not the no true Scotsman, purity, names, pointless random crap. Things like the fact that when it first came out, F2P could use Btag friends, while vets could not. Things like the profession differences, and specifically what you can and can't do on each account, and the differences between them.

As for the tokens, they just made it official. Time = money = gold. It's always been that way. The only difference is that now Blizz have given players an official way to buy gold and buy game time. Before the tokens, people would sell recruit a friend time and mounts for gold. I'm sure I wasn't alone in selling gold and virtual items for money or gold.

Like I said above, I'm not trying to start old arguments. What I'm saying is that it should be highlighted that a "vet" account is most likely a non-WoD account because anyone with WoD and a little work can make their account self-sustaining to the point they won't have to have to ever pay again, assuming that the Blizzard doesn't drastically increase the cost in gold of a wow token. This is the future of WoW, and since this is a guide for the different types of WoW accounts, this information is pertinent.

 

[Aradiel]

I agree that most vets here probably paid $5 and then nothing else, but it's worth noting the differences between WoD and MoP vets too. One of the key points is the lack of 10 day trials for WoD accounts. I just got my third 10 day trial for WoD, so they are definitely still continuing, and given out every 90 days.

Even in vanilla there were plenty of people that couldn't afford their level 60 mounts and training. Today is no exception. Plenty of 100s can't afford the game tokens because they spend all their gold, or just don't make enough. There may well be people that bought WoD, and then decided not to continue their sub, but still enjoy playing 20.

 

[Kincaide]

These posts are not on topic but perhaps are worthy of a discussion thread of their own, how would you feel about having them moved from this thread into a new thread?

 

[Aradiel]

These posts are not on topic but perhaps are worthy of a discussion thread of their own, how would you feel about having them moved from this thread into a new thread?

I think we've answered all the questions that Yde had, although if there are any left unanswered, feel free to highlight those.

 

[Yde]

Please do keep the posts in this thread, I think they were all relevant to my questions! I was interested to read the discussion on exactly what the differences between the account types are, since I want to include that eventually.

I may bump this thread later when I might need help figuring out all the minutiae of scaling.

For now, thanks to everyone for helping me out!

 

[Honey Badger]

/tar Honey /tickle /hug

Not coming back to WoW atm, although it's great that you're organising world PvP and Wargames! And Gnomeball would so tempt me.

I'll add you! But I don't use the Battle.net App often. Not playing anything except for a rare game of Hearthstone when I can't do anything productive. ^^

Added you I'll take 5% of Yde then no Yde at all