Online Resources

If you’re looking for more help, or want to know how to restrict certain aspects of the game so your children can play, try the main website for World of Warcraft (us.battle.net/wow). From the home page, you can choose to visit its many community forums, manage your account (including setting Parental Controls), and get news updates relevant to the game in its current state and what the World of Warcraft team is working on for future patches and expansions.

Community Forums

Forums are online bulletin boards where players can ask questions, brag, help other players, and read updates from Blizzard staffers. Using forums is like mining for gold: There’s plenty of valuable information in forums, but you must wade through many random topics to find it.

Some of the most helpful forums for new players are Class, Realm, Profession Discussion, and Quest Discussion. With some patience, you should find a great deal of assistance.

Remote Auction House

If you have fun “playing the Auction House,” you can now access your realm’s Auction House from your web browser or mobile device. Anyone can browse the Auction House for free, or subscribe to the premium service which allows you to bid on and buy out auctions with real-time results, create auctions from items in your bags, bank, or mailbox, and collect gold earned in your auctions.

Parental Controls

Blizzard Entertainment believes that real-world priorities such as homework, chores, and family dinner should take precedence over entertainment. Their Parental Controls provide parents and guardians with easy-to-use tools to set up rules for World of Warcraft play time and manage access to Blizzard Entertainment games in a way that fits your family’s situation.

You can set Play-Time Limits, a schedule, and even have weekly reports sent to your e-mail account that provide information about the times your child was playing the game, and much more. All these options are found on the battle.net website (www.battle.net) under your Account Settings.

Authenticator

If you’re worried about your account being compromised, Blizzard offers another layer of protection from unauthorized access. A Blizzard Authenticator is an additional layer of security for your Battle.net account. There are multiple types of Authenticators, but they all provide the same security. The Battle.net Authenticator provides you with a unique code that is constantly changing in addition to your regular password. For more information, check the Account Security section in the Services section on the World of Warcraft website.

Character Services

If you want to change something about your character (and a trip to a barber in one of the major cities won’t do the trick), Blizzard offers other options. Before deciding to use any of the following services, read the helpful FAQs on Blizzard’s website for more information.

Appearance Change

Appearance Change, or Character Re-Customization, is an option inherent in Faction and Race Changes. But if you want to change your character model or gender (remember, you can change your character’s look with a visit to the barber shop!) without changing your character’s race, select Appearance Change. This service lets you change your character’s gender, face, hair and skin color, hairstyle, name, and other cosmetic features determined by their race and gender combination.

Character Transfer

There are two types of character transfers. If you start on one realm but find friends playing on another realm, you have the option to transfer a character to the other realm. In rare instances, usually when a realm’s population grows too large, you may be able to transfer a character at no charge. The second type of character transfer involves a move between World of Warcraft accounts. There are many restrictions for this type of transfer.

Faction Change

If you want to see what life is like on the other side, you can change your character’s faction from Horde to Alliance, or Alliance to Horde. As a part of the Faction Change, you must select a new race and customize your character’s look.

Name Change

Changing your character’s name is an option included in some of the other services. But if your character’s name is the only thing you wish to change, this service is the one to choose.

Race Change

If you want to try out a new race that is part of your current faction, select the Race Change option. The full range of customization options offered by the Character Re-Customization service is included as well.

The Blizzard Store

The Blizzard Store sells a few items that appear in World of Warcraft. Currently, you can buy a number of vanity pets, and mounts including the Celestial Steed, Winged Guardian, and Heart of the Aspects.

Armory

The World of Warcraft Armory is a great way to learn more about improving your character. You can look up any active characters on the Armory and see what equipment they use, how they spend their talent points, where you can find upgrades for your gear, and so on. Visit the Armory at us.battle.net/wow (you can search for characters at the top-right of the page) for more information.

Find Additional Resources

BradyGames strategy guides are a great source for information and fun ideas, but WoW is too big to put into any single book or even a group of books. There are thousands and thousands of sites with WoW information. Beyond the main forums for the game, there are guild sites, fan sites, and millions of individual players to talk to.

Don’t play WoW like it’s a solo game. It isn’t! There are so many knowledgeable people out there who enjoy sharing their ideas. Talk to people in the game. Read the forums. Look up macros, tactics, questions, and answers as well. If you want to know what to craft or where to find a reagent, entire recipe lists are available. If you have trouble with a quest, don’t drop it. Find out if other people have had trouble too. Go online and search with the exact quest name. Pretty much every single quest garners helpful search results.

Be eager in your quest for knowledge. None of the best players on your server got there by themselves. It’s impossible to know everything about every class and situation. Even people who only play one class are bound to miss a few ideas.