Norjak wrote:It used to be that you couldn't access the new content/zones/professions/whatever until you had actually bought the expansion, and added the code to your account. For example, I didn't buy TBC right away (received it as a gift a few weeks after launch) but I was an active player in Azeroth, I just couldn't go through the Dark Portal. I'm not sure how they handled Cata, I think those people who stayed with LK were either stuck in Northrend (not a bad place to be stuck, honestly) or they couldn't get in at all.
I know they started selling the first few expansions bundled together for $10 or so. I quit retail a while ago so I have no idea how they handle this today...
Not true.
This model only applied up to wotlk. Till then, you had to individually buy classic, TBC and wotlk separately, and the prices hadn't really decreased too much.
When Cataclysm launched, every account could travel through the redone Eastern Kingdoms/Kalimdor, regardless if they hadn't bought any expansion. Not having the expansion only locked you out of reaching level 85, or using places locked behind a loading screen (think Maelstrom).