Wowhead

Wowhead is a website that provides a searchable database, internet forum, guides and player character services for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The site first started out as a talent calculator for the game. It was in beta from April 4 to June 25, 2006,[1] and the database was released on June 26, 2006.[2] Wowhead functions as a user generated database relying upon players of World of Warcraft themselves, although the information is uploaded automatically through a client-side program.

Wowhead
Front page for Wowhead
Type of site
Searchable database
Available inEnglish, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Italian
OwnerFanbyte
URLwww.wowhead.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationFree
LaunchedJune 26, 2006 (2006-06-26)
Current statusOnline

Client software is available for both the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh platforms.[3] Users can manually add comments to database items or discuss the items themselves in a moderated forum.[4] Comments placed on database items are moderated by the community themselves, with members having the option to "down-rank" outdated and unuseful posts to the point where they are purged, and "up-rank" posts of significance so that they are highlighted.[5] The database is automatically cross referenced by the software between items, non-player characters and zones or dungeons.[6]

Wowhead garnered some attention when it was purchased by Fanbyte (formerly known as ZAM Network[7]), a subsidiary of Affinity Media which formerly owned real-money trading firm IGE.[8] Fanbyte also owns other gaming and World of Warcraft information sites such as Thottbot and Allakhazam.[9]

On July 22, 2009, Wowhead announced that it would be offering its members access to premium service for a recurring subscription in order to help support the website. The premium service offers enhanced usage of the website, removes ads, grants a wider range of forum privileges, and allows paying members to skip to the front of the process queue for World of Warcraft player character information requests.[10][11]

Early 2019 this website announced its new version, exclusively for WoW Classic, even before the release of the game. [12]

References
  1. I might be one of Wowheads first members. - WoW General - Wowhead Forums
  2. Wowhead News. June 26, 2006.
  3. Schramm, Mike (2008-06-03). "Wowhead Warcraft database releases OS X client". The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW). AOL Media. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  4. "About Us - Wowhead". Wowhead.com. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  5. "Frequently Asked Questions". Wowhead.com.
  6. Gilbert, Dan; Whitehead, James; Whitehead, James II (2007). Hacking World of Warcraft. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-0-470-11002-7.
  7. About ZAM Network Retrieved April 2, 2019
  8. Dobson, Jason (June 25, 2007). "Affinity's ZAM Network Acquires Wowhead, Confirms IGE Split". Gamasutra. United Business Media. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  9. "Thottbot Owner Acquires Wowhead". Edge Magazine. Future plc. June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  10. "Wowhead Premium announced". Wowhead.com. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  11. "Wowhead Premium features". Wowhead.com. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  12. "WoWHead News". MMoMonkey.com. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.