***** Recruit-a-Friend - Ultimate FAQ! *****

Greetings all,

We give you the consolidated information regarding the new Recruit-a-Friend system. We will be adding additional question/answers as we go. The official FAQ for the Recruit-a-Friend system can be found here: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20588

Table of Contents:

• 1. Creating a Recruit-a-Friend account
  
  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1&pageNo=1#1
  
  
• 2. Recruit-a-Friend Benefits
  
  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1&pageNo=1#2
  
  
• 3. Rewards specifically for the referring (Veteran) account
  
  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765628748&sid=1&pageNo=1#4

1. Creating a Recruit-a-Friend account

Players with active accounts may send a recruit-a-friend code to a friend by using the link below.

https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/recruit-a-friend.html

Enter the e-mail address of your friend to send an e-mail to them with a trial account code and instructions on creating their account.

When the code is used to start the trial account it will immediately form a link between that account and the one that referred it.

Recruit-a-Friend Q&A:

Q: My friend already has an account, can I send the Recruit-a-Friend code to them so they can use it for that account?


A: No, the Recruit-a-Friend code can only be used to create a new account (not an existing account).


Q: Can I use Recruit-a-Friend to start another account for myself?


A: Yes!


Q: If I signed up for a trial as part of this program (using the emailed code), upgraded the account to a full account, and immediately paid for the 3month subscription, then immediately canceled it, would I still be able to use all the benefits of the linked account (mount, exp, etc) during the 3 paid for months, even with the account under cancellation status?


A: The account is still considered "active" until the paid for time runs out. So, yes.


Q: If I recruit myself and then transfer a character onto the new recruited account (following all existing rules and limitations for character transfers), will that character be eligible for the Recruit-a-Friend bonuses?


A: Yes.


Q: I invite my friend to sign up; he makes the 10 day trial; after he upgrades the account can he use a game card to pay for the subscription rather than using a credit card/PayPal account/etc. Would it still work if he uses a game card?


A: Absolutely. The method of payment is irrelevant. Please note that game card payments are applied immediately to the account; credit card,Paypal or Payment One accounts won't be charged until the initial 30 days of free game time have expired.


Q: If someone "recruits" me and I upgrade the trial account to a full account, would I be able to "recruit" others with that account?


A: Yes, once successfully upgraded to a full account you may use the feature yourself to recruit someone else.


Q: Does the person I recruit have to upgrade to the Burning Crusade to receiving any of these benefits?


A: No, the accounts link as soon as the Recruit-a-Friend code is used. The RaF features (bonus experience, linked friend summoning and level granting) are possible when the account is created. The 30 day credit to the referring account is applied once the referred account has their first months subscription processed and the mount is available to be redeemed once the referred accounts first two months subscription has been processed.


Q: I used Recruit-a-Friend before 8/5/2008, am I still eligible for these benefits?


A: In order to receive the benefits at present, you must use the new Recruit-A-Friend system. The benefits are not presently being applied retroactively.


Q: I used the Recruit-a-Friend option before 8/5 but he just activated it today, are we eligible for the new bonuses? Can I get the special mount?


A: No, only accounts created with RaF invites sent on or after 8/5 are eligible for the new benefits


Q: I want to invite my friend but he doesn't have time to play, how long does this current Recruit-A-Friend offer last?


A: We currently do not have an expiration date on this offer.


Q: When are the Recruit-a-Friend benefits applied? Does my friend have to upgrade their account before we get triple experience, the summon ability or be able to grant the veteran account levels?


A: The accounts are linked as soon as they create the account with the Recruit-a-Friend code, the benefits start immediately. You do not need to upgrade the account to receive most of the benefits but the recruited account will not be able to level beyond level 20 until they do.

2. Recruit-a-Friend Benefits

Benefits last for a maximum of 90 days from when the Recruit-a-Friend key was used to create the account.

• While in a party together, any experience gains are increased significantly.
  
• If both players are present when the mob is killed both players should receive triple experience.
  
• If the mob is trivial to either character, no experience bonus is earned.
  
  This means that if you have Player A (level 50 veteran character) grouped with Player B (level 30 RaF character) and they kill a mob that is level 32, since the mob is trivial to Player A, no bonus experience is awarded.
  
  
• If one player is 4 or more levels higher than the other but the encounter is not trivial, only the lower player gains the experience bonus.
  
  This means that if you have Player A (level 15 veteran character) grouped with Player B (level 11 RaF character) and they kill a mob that is level 13, only Player B would receive the experience bonus.
  
  
• If both players are present, experience gained from quests that are not trivial (gray difficulty or 5 levels below your level) will be tripled for both characters.
  
• While in a party together, all reputation gains are increased by 10%
  Increased reputation gains apply to mob kills only, not for quest rewards or other reputation granting activities.
  
• All bonus reputation and experience stops at level 60.
  
  
• For every two levels a character on the new recruited account gains, they can "grant" a level to one of the veteran player's characters.
  
  The maximum number of grantable levels that can be gained by a single character is 30.
  The recruited player can decide to grant all 30 levels at once to a character on a linked account.
  The character who is being granted a level has the option to accept or decline the level grant.
  
  Levels can only be granted to the veteran player's account, not vice versa.
  Levels cannot be granted Cross Faction.
  A character on the recruited account cannot grant a level to a character equal or higher than their own level.
  
  
• Levels are granted to the veteran player's character by right-clicking the target player's portrait. You will see a "Grant Level" option.
  
  
• Characters on linked accounts may "summon" each other once per hour.
  
• You may summon the linked character regardless of level up to level 60.
  
• You may summon by right clicking the target player's portrait. You will see a "Summon Friend" option if your account is linked with that player.
  
• This ability does not work past level 60.

Experience gain Q&A:

Q: Does the boosted experience gain continue through level 70?


A: No, the bonus experience gained through this feature will stop for a specific character at level 60.


Q: How does the bonus experience work?

Let's say we have Account A with a level 70 character, Account B with a level 1 character and Account C with another level 1 character, all three characters are grouped. Account B and Account C are linked, will they receive triple experience?


A: Bonus experience should only be granted if the experience is not trivial to anyone in the group. Our Quality Assurance Team is looking into reports that some of these restrictions are not consistent and hope to resolve the issue soon.


Q: Does a character from your veteran account have to be grouped with a character on the recruited account to get the experience bonuses?


A: Yes, you must be partied and in close proximity with a character from the linked account in order to receive the experience bonus.


Q: So you’re saying if my recruit is by themselves they don’t get the experience bonus.?


A: Correct.


Q: So if I'm grouped with a character on the linked account, we are in different zones; I understand that we we won't get the bonus experience for killing but will we still receive the bonus for turning in quests?


A: You will only receive the experience bonus when you are grouped with a character who is linked on the account and both characters are present when turning in the quest. No bonus experience will be granted for quests that are trivial to either player.


Q: I recruit two friends using the Recruit-a-Friend option. If I were to group with the two friends I recruited, would we all gain triple the experience?


A: Should all three of you be within 4 levels of each other and in close proximity to each other while killing mobs and turning in quests? Yes.


Q: How do I know I'm getting this triple experience bonus?


A: In the combat log you'll see "Player gains x experience (=y amount from Refer-a-Friend).


Q: So if I used Recruit-a-Friend to invite someone and they used the code, upgraded their account and they used Recruit-a-Friend on another friend; if all three of us were grouped together, what happens to the experience gain?


A: All three party members would receive a boosted experience gain, but only up to 300%.


Q: What about rested experience, do I have the potential to get over 300% experience?


A: No, the max experience gain is 300%. While you are grouped and in close proximity to a character on the linked account your rest experience bonus will not be applied. This means that if you decide to solo later any rest experience that you have acquired will still be available.

Granting Levels Q&A:

Q: So if I invite my friend, and they level to 60, does that mean I have a free 30 levels to gain? Or do these charges not stack? For example you gain 1 level to give, and only have 1 to give until I use it.


A: For every 2 levels a character on the trial account receives, one level may be gifted to a character on the veteran account. So, if a trial character, after he or she upgrades to the full client, levels to 60, a character on the veteran account may receive full 30 levels. The first giftable level is gained at level 2.


Q: I have a level 29 character. If my friend levels to 60 does that mean I can use the gifted levels all the way to 59?


A: Yes! Remember though the character cannot grant a level to a character equal to or higher than their own level and may not grant levels past 60.


Q: If I created a new account using Recruit-a-Friend, upgraded the account and used the Paid Character Transfer service to transfer my level 60 character over, would it then be able to gift one of my low level characters 30 levels?


A: No, gifting levels are earned as you level on the RaF account. A character that leveled exclusively on the RaF account would be able to grant a total of 30 levels by the time it reached level 60. For example if you transferred a level 30 character to the RaF account for every 2 levels that character gains on the RaF account you would receive 1 level that you could gift to the veteran account until level 60 giving you a total of 15 levels.



Q: Do I have to gift the levels right away?


A: No, you can gift them to a character on the veteran account as you earn them or in one lump sum. You must use them before the 90 day RaF period is up though. Once that time expires the levels you had saved to be granted to the veteran account will disappear as well.


Q: What happens to my gift levels if I transfer my character?


A: Unfortunately, all gift levels not yet granted to a veteran character are lost if a Recruit character is transferred between realms or accounts. So, it's important to use those levels before the 90 day expiration passes, and before your transfer your recruit character


Q: Do I lose the levels a character on my recruited account can gift when I reach 60? What about if I continue to level to 70, will I lose them then?


A: No, you will only lose the levels you have to gift if the 90 day RaF period expires or you transfer the character.


Q: I have a level 30 character and a level 20 character on the RaF account does that mean that I can give 25 levels to a level 25 character on the veteran account?


A: You can only gift levels to characters that are below your level. So the level 30 character on the RaF account can only grant 5 levels to the level 25 veteran character. The level 20 character would not be able to gift any levels to that character but could give 10 levels to a level 1-10 character on the veteran account, the level 30 could use the remaining 10 levels on any veteran character that is below its level.


Q: I have two characters on the recruited account, they each have 30 levels they can gift to characters on the veteran account. Can I give all 60 levels to one character?


A: Absolutely, as long as the character you are granting levels to is below the recruited characters level you may grant as many levels as you like from multiple characters on the recruited account.


Q: How do I gift a level to a character on the veteran account?


A: The character you want to give levels to must be online and close to you in order to do this. You need to Right-Click on their portrait and select "Grant a Level".


Q: Can I get some clarification on that last one? How do I grant a level again?


A: Ok, let's break this down a bit. You have a character on the recruited account that levels from 1 to 60; that gives that character 30 levels that you can use to grant to a character or several characters on the veteran account that referred you.

Lets keep it simple and say that you just want to grant the levels to one character on the veteran account. Your friend on the veteran account selects a level 25 character; the granting character must be standing near the veteran character in order to grant the level. You'll need right-click on their portrait, you should see the option "Grant a Level", and that is it. You'll be able to give all 30 levels to that character if you wish bringing it up to level 55.

You can give the levels to one character or several on the veteran account, the requirements are as follows: they must be under the level of the granting character and you must use the levels before the 90 day Recruit a Friend period is up.


Q: Is there a way to tell how many levels a character on the recruited account has to gift?


A: No, at this time there is no visual indicator of the number of levels available to gift to the veteran account.

Summoning Friend Q&A:

Q: How do I summon a character on the linked account?


A: Invite the linked friend to a party. Right-click their character portrait or open the Social Tab. Select "Summon Friend" or click the "globe" icon next to the name.


Q: Can I summon my linked friend to the Outland?


A: Only if that account has the Burning Crusade expansion enabled.

3. Rewards specifically for the referring (Veteran) account

• If you send someone a Recruit-a-Friend invite and they use that code to create an account, if they upgrade from a trial to a standard account the recruiting (veteran) account will receive one month free (30 days) of game time. The free month will not be applied until the payment for the first months subscription has been processed.
  
  
• If the referred account has remained active for 90 days, the veteran account receives a reward (a special epic mount). This 90 days includes the original month granted when an account is upgraded from the trial. Once 2 months of game time have been purchased and processed after the initial free month, the veteran account will be able to claim the mount.
  
  
• Once you are eligible, you can use the account management page to choose the realm/character that you wish the mount to be sent to. Mounts will be sent via in-game mail.
  
  Note: This mount require "Expert Riding" so you will need to be level 60 and trained in the skill before you can ride it.

Mount Q&A:

Q: Do all characters on the account get a mount?


A: Only one mount may be redeemed per qualifying referral.


Q: Once I qualify for it, how do I redeem the mount?


A: Visit the Account Management page and click on the Recruit-a-Friend option, select the "My Rewards" tab then "claim this reward!". You can then select the realm and character that you want to receive the mount. It will arrive in their in-game mailbox.


Q: Is it a level 60 "epic" mount or the standard level 30 mount?


A: The mount is epic quality. You will need to be level 60 and possess Expert Riding Skill in order to use it.


Q:I recruited a friend and they selected a 60 day subscription which is 2 months. I don't have the option to redeem my mount.


A: You will not be able to retrieve the mount until a subscription for the 2 months has been applied to the account and processed. Credit cards, Paypal and Payment One payment methods are not billed until the current game time on the account has expired. This means that the initial free month that is included with a standard account must expire before the veteran account qualifies for the mount.


Q: Do we get to keep the mount after the 90 days is up?


A: Of course, the mount is yours to keep.


Q: Can the recruited account use a game cards? Will that qualify me for a mounts?


A: 60-day or more game cards applied to the RaF account makes the veteran account eligible for the mount immediately.


Q: Is the mount given only to the veteran account or does the recruited account also get a mount?


A: Only the veteran account is eligible for the mount.


Q: Does the recruited account have to upgrade before the 90 days of benefits are up to qualify for the mount? Can they upgrade and pay for the 2 months subscription time later?


A: No, the account does not need to be upgraded right away nor does the 2 months subscription time need to be applied immediately. As long as the Recruit-a-Friend invite that was used to create the account was sent 8/5/2008 or later you will be eligible for the subscription benefits whenever the person decides to upgrade their account and pay for a 2 month subscription.


Q: I'm having trouble redeeming my mount on the website. I keep getting redirected. What gives?


A: Clear your cookies and cache and try again. With this, you may need to try the redemption process using either IE or Firefox, as other browsers often experience an error.