Perhaps you have considered picking up World of Warcraft (WoW) for a while now but don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed. Don’t worry; I will walk you through everything you need to know as a new/beginner WoW player in this multi-part guide. In this article, we will look at the cost to begin playing, how you can set up an account, and talk about what realms are (and why they matter).
If you already have an account feel free to skip to Part 2: Creating Your WoW Character.
Let’s talk a little about World of Warcraft and its expansions…
There have been 10 expansions for World of Warcraft since it was released in 2004. Each expansion has added new features, content, and storylines for players to explore.
Within the WoW community, players will often give nicknames to each expansion. For instance, you will often hear the original game called “vanilla” WoW. Here is a list of all WoW expansions and their common abbreviations:
With so much content, you may feel overwhelmed if you are a new World of Warcraft player.
Fortunately, you don’t need to buy all these expansions, and most of their content is completely optional! Additionally, the developers of World of Warcraft have made many changes to the game recently to make it easier for new players to start. Part of this includes a starting zone called Exile’s Reach, which walks you through the basics of the game. In my opinion, this is a great time to start playing WoW.
Before you can play, you need to set up a free Blizzard Account.
You can do this at worldofwarcraft.com, where you will select the “Try Free” or “Account” -> “Login” option at the top. Selecting “Try Free” will create a starter account for you to play characters up to level 20.
If you aren’t sure if you will enjoy WoW, I recommend creating a starter account and trying it out. For more information, check out my article on Setting Up a Free WoW Starter Account.
After setting up an account, you can purchase a subscription only and play all content from “vanilla” through Dragonflight. This will allow you to play a character from levels 1-70.
A monthly World of Warcraft subscription will run you about $14.99 plus tax for one month of game time. If you plan to play for a longer period, you might consider paying for a longer subscription time to pay a lower monthly price. For instance, purchasing a 6-month subscription will cost you $77.94 for a per-month average of $12.99 plus tax.
If you want to dive into the nitty-gritty details or prices for Canada or the U.K., you can check out the full guide I wrote on the pricing of World of Warcraft.
If you want to play The War Within, you will need to purchase it.
The starting price for a digital copy of The War Within is $49.99 if purchased directly through a Blizzard account. You can also buy a digital or physical copy of the game through other retailers.
Assuming you purchase The War Within for $49.99, plus a one-month subscription, your total initial cost would be about $70 after tax. Once you own the expansion, your reoccurring cost is the typical $14.99+ tax per month.
I have enjoyed playing The War Within so far. The content and story are great! If you want to learn more about the expansion, check out the trailer below.
Being a new WoW player can be overwhelming after the game has been out for so long. Hopefully, this guide has helped you set up a Blizzard account, get a subscription, and choose a realm for your character. If it did, you are ready to move onto the next level!
In part 2 (Creating Your Character), we will work on creating your first character in World of Warcraft.
If you have already created your character, feel free to jump ahead to whatever guide looks the most helpful below:
