Blizzard will be implementing a new 'Veteran Edition' for World of Warcraft old-timers who currently don't have an active subscription, but still want to play the game.

Similar to the 'Starter Edition' for newcomers, the player will be capped to level 20 and will only be able to receive 10 gold. Other limitations on invitations, friends and places still apply to the 'Veteran Edition'.

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"We've always had this kind of weird limitation where if you've never played WoW, we let you play as much as you want, albeit in a very restricted 'Starter Edition' account. However, if you have ever had a subscription - but don't currently have one - we don't even let you log in," community manager Bashiok said on the Blizzard forums.

This new 'Veteran Edition' allows players to get over this hurdle somewhat, although it still limits them severely on what they can do, especially if they have already ranked up to level 100.

Some users thought Blizzard was implementing a new free-to-play system for World of Warcraft, which has been rumored for months, to push the MMO to the free-to-play audience.

It follows a decline in overall users on World of Warcraft over the past five years, leading some to believe Blizzard's MMO is dying a slow death. The new Warlords of Draenor DLC has brought back a lot of the old timers, but does not look to be a permanent revival.

The new free-to-play option would allow newcomers in, and Blizzard may be able to sell higher-levels and DLC to the new players for extra revenue.

It doesn't look like Blizzard will implement this system just yet, although by the end of 2015 it will be a shock if there is not more to do in World of Warcraft with a free account.

Blizzard is working on two new games for 2015, Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. It is also continuing development on Hearthstone, its competitive card game.

TagsBlizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft, MMO, Veteran Edition, free-to-play