Blizzard announced some information regarding the trail accounts that have been given out with several magazines in the last little while. The rules are in place to prevent farming and other activities with free accounts.

Please Read: Trial Accounts

In order to protect our player base from abuse, we have placed some restrictions on accounts created using the promotional 14-day trial version of World of Warcraft that is available through certain magazine publications. Please be aware that these restrictions are only in place during the trial period; players who decide to purchase a retail copy of World of Warcraft and activate their accounts will be able to continue adventuring with the same characters and take full advantage of all features included in the retail version of the game.

During the trial period, characters on the promotional accounts will be able to advance up to level 20 and accumulate up to 10 gold. Use of the auction house and mailbox, player-to-player trade, and access to the in-game chat channels will be unavailable for the duration of the 14-day trial period.

Please note that the above restrictions do not apply to the trial accounts included in the World of Warcraft standard and collector editions.

To read the thread for complete information and player comments click here.