World of Warcraft's next massive expansion, Shadowlands, is almost here after a surprising delay was announced last month. The Shadowlands expansion pre-patch has already arrived and delivered the highly-anticipated level squish and character customization updates to the nearly two decade old Blizzard MMO. The new level 50-60 content won't be available until November 23, but players have plenty to do to stay busy in the game until then.
To help build some hype for the upcoming expansion and bring lapsed players back early to adjust to the level squish and the many changes that have likely happened to their classes since their last login, Blizzard is kicking off a Welcome Back weekend event. The festivities kick off today and are designed to help bring back old players, from any era of World of Warcraft, to get hooked just before Shadowlands is officially live.
The Welcome Back event lasts from November 5 through November and gives previous subscribers full access to Battle for Azeroth and all prior expansions. That means that those players will be free to log back into their old characters, create new characters to test of thee Timewalk leveling, or just head to the Barber Shop and get a fresh look. Each WoW expansion usually is able to help bring back old players, so this sort of early play to get their attention seems like a smart move by Blizzard that could help boost Shadowlands sales and increase subscription numbers if players like what they find during their return to Azeroth.
Welcome Week Date and Time
Return to World of Warcraft FREE from November 5 to November 9.
Official Event Description
"Shadowlands is nearly here, and you and your allies are needed back on the front lines. This weekend, we're giving all players with inactive World of Warcraft accounts full access to the game* and all of your characters without a subscription. You’ll be able to access all expansions including Battle for Azeroth, so you can play the most recent content and be ready for Shadowlands when it launches on November 24, 2020 at 00:01 CET. Rejoin your guild, rally your comrades, and prepare to brave the beyond."
How To Log Back In
For previous subscribers - Download the Battle.net desktop app and aunch the app and log in to your account.
Need to recover your account information? - Within the app, click on the World of Warcraft tab, then either Install or Update. When the installation or update is complete, click Play.
That should be all there is to it. The Battle.net app makes launching and managing the game a pretty simple process.
The Welcome Week combined with the ongoing anniversary event will likely make this a popular weekend in World of Warcraft for new and veteran players. Although leveling up to 60 (again) doesn't begin for a few weeks, players can spend time enjoying the anniversary bonuses and hunting down related achievements. A lot of players are also concentrating on leveling alts to experience the new Timewalking leveling options. Players are finding some very short paths from 1 to 50 and a new era of speed leveling is upon Azeroth.
Be sure to check back in the coming weeks as more details about Shadowlands emerge. Until then, For the Horde!
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands launches globally on November 23 for PC.
Source: Blizzard