Remember when D.A.R.E. officers would warn you against the evil drug dealers who would give you the first hit for free in order to get you addicted? Well, think of Blizzard as a dealer who is extending that offer to the first 20 hits. Starting now, World of Warcraft has become free to play until you hit level 20.

"We've removed the previous 10- and 14-day trial time restrictions, and players who are interested in trying out World of Warcraft can now play the base game for free up to a maximum character level of 20, including draenei and blood elf characters—all they need is a Battle.net account and an Internet connection," Blizzard explained in a statement. If you ran through a previous 14-day trial, you can go back to your character and continue to play from the point you left the game if you'd like, but the level cap will be set at 20.

After that? Blizzard has some inexpensive ways of getting you into the game.

...players will be able to get both the original World of Warcraft and the game’s first expansion set, The Burning Crusade, for only $19.99 as part of the new digital Battle Chest now available in the online Blizzard Store. In addition, anyone who owns the original World of Warcraft, regardless of when they purchased the game, will automatically be able to access all of the content and features from The Burning Crusade expansion at no additional cost.

You're going to see this more frequently as companies find ways to sell you content through the games, using the title as a platform instead of a product. Valve recently moved Team Fortress 2 into the world of free-to-play, and even fighting games are becoming aggressive in post-launch monetization—although in that case there was no drop in the price for the game.

Sound off in the comments: are you now more likely to play World of Warcraft, or at least try it?