Player

A player in World of Warcraft (WoW) is the actual person behind an in-game Alliance or Horde character. For example, you are a player if you are a person who plays World of Warcraft.

A player is distinguishable from player characters in that one player can have multiple player characters. While playing with the default interface configuration, player characters can be identified by a permanent character name panel floating above their character. The color of the text in this name panel varies defending upon their faction and whether they are flagged for PvP.

The game mechanics in World of Warcraft also make the distinction between player and player character in a few ways, such as:
 * Validating Guild Charter signatures. Only one character per account can sign a charter, thus preventing only a couple of players from starting a guild with many alts.
 * Confirming Auction House bids and buyouts. A player cannot bid for, or buyout, their own auctions using one of their own alts on the same account, even from different factions.
 * Responding to GM tickets promptly. When a GM ticket is submitted in game, the GM can identify a player regardless of which player character he or she may be using.