I am of the understanding that Blizz does not create and sell WoW tokens in a vaccuum but rather every token bought from Blizz for $$, unless saved or hoarded, is then sold on a special portion of the AH to someone who buys it with in-game gold and then that person sells it back to blizzard in return for a month of game time.
In effect, the token serves as a mechanism for trading in-game gold owned by one player for a month of game time purchased by another player with real world money and in the process Blizz makes a $5 profit off the transaction.
Is this the case or is there some other aspect to this I don’t understand?
That’s the way it is supposed to be set up, but I’ve never heard of a token not selling, which suggests there is some backstop contingency to make sure the tokens sell.
The Tokens will always sell. I think they do put it on some kind of priority list so each one does sell, but it is also based on supply and demand so if no one is buying WoW Tokens on the AH, then the price does go up, but when you sell it, it does set a price of how much gold you get it when it is placed on the AH.
The problem I have is that if something like that happens. You could put an WoW Token on the AH for like 130k and then if everyone just stopped buying Tokens, that price goes up, but the amount you are given is still that 130k. That extra amount of gold people are spending I guess is eaten?
It is region wide to ensure that if you’re on a dead server itll still sell
People can also redeem token for blizzard balance which can be used for character services or buying blizzard games, so theres pretty much always some form of demand for it, like swapping wow gold for black ops boxes
You take the plastic rectangle card with AmEx/Master Card out of your mom’s purse and you swipe it to buy a token through Blizzards “easy to use and in-game” store. This gives you free gold that you can then use to get free runs through all the content you couldn’t make friends to do with you.
Here’s how it works - each token nets Blizzard $20 and the folks who buy gold this way, who generally have limited time to play, are also spending cash on their monthly sub. The person buying a token in game with in game gold is getting at most a $15 value if they opt to convert it to store credit. So its as if Blizzard just got $20 for a sub $15 fee - a 30% bump.
Meanwhile, gold is falling out of the sky in world for those who have the time to play which makes it easy for the more active players to use the token system instead of paying cash monthly. Easier in world gold means more token purchases which means more profit for Blizz.
Then you add in the carry groups who demand huge sums of gold for simple carries and now you’re feeding the cash → token → gold profit path even more. That’s the not so subtly disguised pay to win system that nets Blizzard significant cash. If you’re flush with real cash Blizzard will happily take it off your hands in exchange for in game gold which then buys legendaries, gear, and carries through any level of content.
All other features and benefits for all parties aside, I would not be surprised if one of the WoW token’s original purposes was to get rid of the third party gold sellers. When Blizzard took over the practice of selling gold through official channels, the sellers largely dried up (at least on servers I have been on). They were also said to be a major source of account hacking, so the token helped there too.
People gripe about tokens, and the selling by Blizzard to “make money” and their use to buy boosts and such. The only real difference is that the token is not against the CoC and will not get you banned but third party sources will get you hacked/banned for good.
The token also gives players access to store items without having to pay extra cash. You can convert tokens to store balance. It also gives a way for people with limited money to play the game.
If no one buys them on the AH then the value and price go down. This encourages more people to buy tokens on the AH because they’re cheaper and less people to buy them at the store because they’re not giving as much gold.
The tokens fine. People used 3rd party sites like crazy just like people buy the token. Blizz got tired of the crying of people getting hacked. People dont like to admit it but the majority of wow has used 3rd party or used tokens for carries why its rampant advertisement everywhere since forever. It’s actually a nice thing if your a kid and parents won’t pay.
The token is guaranteed to sell, even if a player doesn’t buy it. When that happens, a huge chunk of gold is added to the economy without having to spend the time farming.
Long answer : Watch trade chat on any server for a few mins and you will see people selling runs for Gold. So enough tokens = max gear, mounts, achievements…
Blizzard knows about it and will not change it because they make money off the tokens hand over fist.
The beauty of the system If no one is buying then the price goes up making it more attractive to people who want gold so they start buying them which drives the price down making them more attractive to people who want game time/BlizzBux which drives the gold value of them back up, it’s a nifty little system.
If no one is buying then the price goes up making it more attractive to people who want gold so they start buying them which drives the price down making them more attractive to people who want game time/BlizzBux which drives the gold value of them back up, it’s a nifty little system.