Can you still play wow but not pay monthly such as if you buy the CD from a store?

Answer 1

It doesn't matter where you buy World of Warcraft. if you buy World of Warcraft in a shop then you will get the CD/DVD and the CD key

and if you buy it Online then you will get the key with email. with this key you can register an World of Warcraft account. then you have to pay a monthly fee that you can pay with a normal credit card or you can buy a gamecard with 60days play time (not ingame play time.

Answer 2

You can get the free trial for 10 days but after that you do have to buy the game and pay the monthly fee if you want to play. To keep the same character, and level up, to get experience after level 20, to join guilds, use the ah, trade, or to do just about any other important aspect of the game, you need to pay monthly. But you could live off of 10-day trials if you just want to talk with friends or explore the different player options available in wow.