Tag Archives: World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft Subscription Comes with Free Expansions

Gaming

Blizzard Entertainment, creator of World of Warcraft, announced something they have never done before. Starting today, (July 18, 2018) new players can gain access to all World of Warcraft content up through and including the Legion expansion simply by becoming a subscriber of World of Warcraft.

What this means is that it will no longer be necessary for new players to purchase the original World of Warcraft basegame. In addition, all existing World of Warcraft subscribers have automatically been upgraded to Legion at no additional cost.

Today we’re also upgrading the World of Warcraft: Complete Collection for new subscribers, which will include all seven expansions – including a digital pre-purchase of the upcoming Battle for Azeroth – 30 days of game time, and one 110 Character Boost.

Note: The 30 days of game time is available for new subscriptions, only.

The pre-patch for the upcoming Battle for Azeroth expansion has launched. It is still possible to pre-purchase it. Battle for Azeroth will launch, in the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand at the same time on August 14, 2017.

Those who are brand new subscribers to World of Warcraft need to be aware that, even though they are getting several expansions for free, they will still need to purchase the Battle for Azeroth expansion. Overall, I think this offer is a good one. People who are considering playing World of Warcraft, for the very first time, won’t have to buy eight expansions at once just to play with their friends who stayed current.

Battle for Azeroth Pre-Patch Goes Live Soon

Gadgets,

The upcoming World of Warcraft expansion is called Battle for Azeroth. It is going to launch on August 14, 2018, worldwide, at the same time. Before that happens, a pre-patch will go live. This is going to happen on July 17, 2018.

Blizzard Entertainment, creator of World of Warcraft, points out that players will need to update their drivers for the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch.

To make the most of Battle for Azeroth and avoid potential issues, it’s important to update to the latest DirectX 12 drivers. Please note that AMD and the Intel GPUs will default to DX12, while NVIDIA drivers will remain at DX11 with the option to update at a later time.

Some of the new features of the pre-patch have been revealed. Others will be revealed later in the official patch notes (which, at the time I am writing this blog, is described as “coming soon”.)

Features that are arriving with the pre-patch include:

  • War Mode, PVP Talents, and More: War Mode tears down boundaries and server rule-set distinctions, allowing players on any realm to decide when they want to jump into a world PVP experience full of like-minded players in the ongoing battle between Horde and Alliance.
  • Legion PVP Post-Season:Join in the PVP action and earn some new gear just in time for the launch of the Battle for Azeroth.
  • World of Warcraft Communities: Bring your friends and family of the same faction together cross-realm through our new World of Warcraft Communities feature.

World of Warcraft Welcome Back Weekend

Gaming,

Blizzard Entertainment is doing a World of Warcraft Welcome Back Weekend. Players who have inactive accounts can play World of Warcraft for free for a limited time. It’s a nice way to get players back into the game before the new Battle for Azeroth expansion arrives in August.

Battle for Azeroth is approaching fast, and everyone is needed back on the front lines. This weekend, we’re upgrading all inactive World of Warcraft accounts to grant returning players full access to the game and all of their characters – without a subscription – through June 24.

In the blog post, there is an asterisk next to the word “game”. Players are responsible for any online connection fees. Game access will be granted at the last expansion the player purchased, or the Warlords of Draenor expansion, whichever is greater.

This is interesting, because Warlords of Draenor is not the newest expansion. The most recent one is Legion, which will not be provided for players who have inactive accounts and who play for free this weekend.

This might be problematic for players whose old friends and guildmates stayed active and who finished the Warlords of Draenor content quite a while ago. They could still play together, but would have to do it in what some would consider old content.

In addition, Blizzard Entertainment is offering 25% off select game services. This includes:

  • Appearance Change
  • Character Transfer
  • Faction Change
  • Name Change
  • Race Change
  • Character Transfer / Faction Change Combo

The offer does not include a discount on Guild Services, WoW Token, Character Boost, pets, mounts, or transmog items.

Battle for Azeroth Expansion to Launch Worldwide Simultaneously

Gaming, ,

Blizzard Entertainment, creator of World of Warcraft, announced in April that the newest expansion would go live on August 14, 2018. They recently announced that it would launch worldwide simultaneously.

The decision to have a global launch of the Battle for Azeroth expansion could work really well, and allow all players to engage in the new content right away. Or it could turn out to be a glitchy, laggy disaster. Players will just have to wait and see how it goes.

For the first time in World of Warcraft, the next expansion – Battle for Azeroth – will launch in the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand at the same time. Wherever you live and whatever faction you fight for, you can be part of one globally united front as the battle for Azeroth begins.

Blizzard Entertainment has a map on the page where the announcement was made that shows what time World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth will go live around the world. The same information is also presented in a list. There is also a countdown that shows you that days, hours, minutes, and seconds left before the global release will happen.

Battle for Azeroth will launch:

Americas – August 13, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The reason it is being launched slightly ahead of August 14 (in local time) is to align with the other regions.

Europe – August 14, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. CEST

Taiwan – August 14, 2018, at 6:00 a.m. CST

Korea – August 14, 2018, at 7:00 a.m. KST

Australia / New Zealand – August 14, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. AEST

UTC – August 13, 2018, at 10:00 p.m. UTC

World of Warcraft is Deactivating the Remote Auction House App

Gaming,

Blizzard Entertainment announced that the World of Warcraft Remote Auction House will be deactivated on April 18, 2018. Players that are currently using the app will have to do their Auction House related activities in-game, once again.

The WoW Remote Auction House will be deactivated on April 18, 2018. On that date, you will no longer be able to view Auction House listings or make Auction House transactions through the official WoW website or the WoW Armory app, and all links will be removed from our website. After April 18, you’ll still be able to use the WoW Armory app for all other purposes, including accessing your character profile, talent calculators, event calendars, and more.

In a post that was updated three months ago, Blizzard stated that the Remote Auction House allowed players to browse the Auction House in World of Warcraft. They could check the status of existing auctions, purchase items, and create their own auctions. A single World of Warcraft account could preform up to 200 Remote Auction House transactions per day (including bids, buyouts, and creating auctions).

Blizzard is aware that some World of Warcraft community sites make use of Blizzard’s API to access Auction House-related data. Blizzard is going to continue to support for that. In short, those community websites will still be able to provide players information about things like prices for a specific item in the Auction House. The app, however, will stop doing that as of April 18, 2018.

Blizzard Announced World of Warcraft: The Battle for Azeroth

Gaming,

Blizzard announced the newest World of Warcraft expansion during BlizzCon 2017. It is called World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth. The beta test is coming soon, and you can opt-in to it now if you are interested in being selected to participate.

It is very clear that this expansion is very much focused on the ongoing battle between the Horde and the Alliance. The tagline for the expansion is “Declare Your Allegiance”.

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 the 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.

World of Warcraft: The Battle for Azeroth includes:

Six New Playable Races:

Players can earn the respect of six playable Allied Races. Doing so will unlock the ability for a player to create new prestige characters of that race. After an Allied Race is recruited, players can rediscover Azeroth through a revamped level experience that features zones that scale as your character grows in power. Complete the full leveling experience to earn a distinctive Heritage Armor set.

Horde Allied Races: Highmountain Tauren, Nightborne, Zandalari Trolls

Alliance Allied Races: Lightforged Draenei, Void Elf, Dark Iron Dwarves

Two New Continents

Kul Tiras is the seafaring kingdom that is home to Jaina Proudmoore. It is the new continent for the Alliance. Players can “untangle a web of betrayal and dark magic” as they explore new zones, fight sea pirates, and more.

Zandalar is the new continent for the Horde. It is a troll dominated territory. Players can encounter battle crazed blood-troll worshippers, gargantuan dinosaurs, and titan constructs. It includes new zones, including Zuldazar, the oldest city in Azeroth.

Uncharted Islands

Players can battle in groups of three and race against enemy players (or rival intruders) to collect the resources on an island. There will be “constantly evolving challenges”.

Warfronts

Players can take part in a large-scale, 20-player cooperative Warfront to claim a key strategic location. Build up your factions forces, lay siege to the objective, and battle enemy commanders. This is a PVE mode of the game that was inspired by Warcraft RTS battles.

 

World of Warcraft’s Hallow’s End Event has Started

Gaming

The Hallow’s End event happens every year in World of Warcraft. It is clearly a Halloween-inspired event, and one that I personally find to be a lot of fun. Hallow’s End started today, October 18, 2017, and will end on November 1, 2017.

There are some new things added to the Hallow’s End event this year. One is called “Exquisite Costume Set: Xavius:, which looks like a demon. The other is a two-piece Horse costume. One player wears the head of the horse, and another player follows them around dressed as the tail of the horse.

There is a brand new pet called Naxxy. It is a small replica of Naxxramas, a giant necropolis that floats over two zones in World of Warcraft. Naxxramas is a raid dungeon. The way to obtain these special items is to collect in-game currency by trick-or-treating at the inns.

Perhaps the most interesting change has to do with the Headless Horseman battle. This year, players who have characters that are level 23 or higher will be able to queue up for the Headless Horseman encounter in the Dungeon Finder.

This change might give players a better chance at obtaining The Horseman’s Reins (a special, and highly sought after, mount).  Brand new players can get to level 23 in a reasonably short amount of time.  Players who have several low-level alts, that are at least level 23, can queue them up for the Headless Horseman encounter.  The Horseman’s Reins have to drop eventually…. right?