Front page for Wowhead.com. |
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| URL | http://www.wowhead.com/ |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Searchable database |
| Registration | Free |
| Available language(s) | English, German, Spanish, French, Russian |
| Owner | ZAM Network |
| Launched | June 26, 2006 |
| Alexa rank | 1,379 (January 2012[update])[1] |
| Current status | Online |
Wowhead is a search database for the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The site first started out as a talent calculator. It was in beta from April 4 to June 25, 2006,[2] and the database was released on June 26, 2006.[3] Wowhead functions as a user generated database relying upon players of WoW themselves, though the information is uploaded automatically through a client side program.
Client software is available for both the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh platforms.[4] Users can manually add comments to database items or discuss the items themselves in a moderated forum.[5] Comments placed on database items are moderated by the community themselves, with members having the option to "down-rank" out-dated and useless posts to the point where they are purged, and "up-rank" posts of significance so that they are highlighted.[6] The database is automatically cross referenced by the software between items, non-player characters and zones or dungeons.[7]
Wowhead garnered some attention when it was purchased by the ZAM Network, a subsidiary of Affinity Media which formerly owned real-money trading (RMT) firm IGE.[8] The ZAM Network 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 a Premium service for a recurring subscription in order to help support the project. The premium service offers enhanced usage of the website, removing ads, granting a wider range of forum privileges, and allowing paying members to skip to the front of the process queue for armory requests.[10][11]
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