I haven’t played for years, logged in my account recently and saw the Gear Update option. I took it without knowing it sent all my items to the mail. Which I have no access to because I don’t have a sub.
I contacted support and the answer was as follows:
Hello there ,
This is Game Master Naesearred.
I understand that you clicked the Gear Update and would like to retrieve your items from the mailbox but you are on free trial.
After having investigate your case, Customer Support is unable to give out free game time, even though we dearly comprehend your situation.
If you would like to open your mail, you must purchase a subscription, game time or a WoW Token in order to access it.
I know this is a different answer than the one you were hoping to receive, however I hope that you have better experiences in the future despite this setback.
If any other questions arise, feel free to contact us through our support channels.
Have a wonderful day and take care.
Game Master Naesearred ʕ •ᴥ• ʔづ
I’ve read the thread where someone said to post in the Community Forums so that the devs and community managers can see, but I can’t post in the Community Forums because you need a sub to post there.
If you only want to give a suggestion, you can also use the ingame suggestion panel to give free feedback. No gametime required. You will not get a reply back.
That would be to leave feedback so they can consider changing a policy or in-game system. It won’t be of any assistance to your current issue.
You cannot access mail on a free account. You’ll need to have game time to retrieve the items. Something else of note: the mail you receive from the Gear Update expires after 180 days, not 30 days. So you have a little extra time to fund the account.
I don’t know if I would say it’s intended as much as it is a limitation on how the system currently works.
Edit:
The mail should stick around for about 90-180 days, I don’t recall which, but it is possible during that time that we’ll have a free weekend or week of game time promotion. It isn’t something I can guarantee, but we do see them here and there.
I did take a look at the items in the mail and most seem to be fairly low level, gray, white and several green items with three blue quality items total. What you received in the Gear Update is definitely better quality.
Even so, I do want them back for sentimental value. I don’t think it’s fair to lock people’s items behind a paywall, even more so when it’s presented as a “welcome back gift”.
I guess I’ll see if I have access to post that bug report, since the relevant eyes don’t even look here.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this here. I think a good case can be made that Gear Update should either be unavailable, or have a big warning, if you try to do it when you don’t have game time. Someone who agrees, and also cares more than I do, could put this as a suggestion in the appropriate forum or through the in game feedback function.
First off, it’s not a “paywall”. It’s just a subscription to access above level 20. This game is not free to play. Playing to level 20 with no subscription is basically a trial account, and back when they had trial accounts, they had the same restrictions.
Second, it’s only old, irrelevant items in your mail. They gave you much better gear with the update, so you’re not locked out of anything.
You can always submit a bug report in-game, even without a subscription. However, Bug Report is not what you want. This is not a bug. What you want is to leave feedback to ask them to change something with the Gear Update and unsubscribed accounts…
These, for example, are fine suggestions to improve the system. To post these in the correct place, use the Suggestion feature in game. That is accessible to any account.
The good news is that most white and grey items can be acquired again! They can also be transmogged now so you can kill things to get them to drop, get them from vendors, make them with professions, or get quest items on alts.
That will let you re-assemble any items you are fond of as your “starter” set. You can also visit a transmog vendor and make your gear look like your starter set any time you want! No matter your level.
You can even get those grey and white gear items while you are using your free version of the account and with free alts up to level 20.
It will require no money at all to get those items again for your sentimental bank, if you wish to. You just have to log in and play Enjoy some of the holiday stuff too. It is generally really cute.
Enjoy some of the holiday stuff too. It is generally really cute.