Q: What is the WoW Token?
A: The WoW Token is both:
- a Blizzard-sanctioned way of spending real money in exchange for World of Warcraft gold; and,
- a means of earning game time by farming gold rather than by paying the monthly subscription fee
Q: How does the WoW Token work?
A: The process is as follows:
- Player A spends the price of a WoW Token in real money (the monthly subscription fee plus an additional amount);
- Player A lists the WoW Token on the Auction House, the price of which is set by the current supply-and-demand-driven cost;
- Player B earns a sufficient amount of gold via in-game activity;
- Player B buys out Player A’s WoW Token auction;
- Player A receives the total amount of gold Player B spent in buying out their auction; and,
- Player B receives the WoW Token, which when used, adds a month of game time to their account.
Q: Isn’t Real Money Trading (RMT) in any form bad for the player experience?
A: This is a nuanced issue and has been subject to debate for decades—all things being equal, my answer is yes—but the most important point is that the implied premise of the question (that allowing RMT or not is a choice) is itself faulty. Blizzard finds itself in a role similar to that of a government in its attempts to deal with the abuse of an illicit substance. They can either: (a) declare war on human nature by engaging in an endless crusade to stop it; (b) alter the nature of the game itself so as to eliminate its economic incentives altogether (do away with trading of any kind between players); or, (c) legalize and regulate it in an attempt to disincentivize other problems of equal (or even greater) importance, e.g. botting, account hacking, etc.
Q: Isn’t Blizzard just cashing in on some players’ immoral behavior?
A: Blizzard is not a charity. It is a company like any other, i.e. its goal is to produce a product that people want to buy. Regardless of the wholesome values its representatives may at times express, the ultimate goal is to make money. There’s nothing immoral about that.
Q: Still, though, they’re just fleecing their own players to the tune of $20 a pop, right?
A: No. First of all, the vast majority of the price of the WoW Token is the farming player’s month of game time (see above), as they are not creating the gold out of thin air per WoW Token sold. And, the amount of money they make per transaction isn’t just the difference between the price of the WoW Token and the price of a month of game time (e.g. credit card gateways aren’t free to use, all services require implementation, maintenance, support, etc.).
Q: But didn’t Blizzard promise never to bring the WoW Token to Classic?
A: They’ve said many times that they really wanted to avoid it, but no, we were never expressly promised that they wouldn’t.
Q: Are there any benefits to introducing the WoW Token?
A: Yes, several:
- other illicit activities surrounding unauthorized RMT (e.g. botting, account hacking, etc.) will be greatly diminished, although not eliminated altogether;
- if you, personally, can afford a WoW Token and would prefer not to farm gold when you would otherwise need to in order to enjoy the game, now you can without fear of contributing to the above or losing access to your account;
- people of less means—especially those in the developing world—now have another, perhaps more personally viable, means of playing the game and participating in its community; and,
- profits from sales of WoW Tokens will be going to the company making the game you like to play—potentially making it better—rather than to nefarious actors who prey upon your fellow players.
OP note: I may continue to update this I continue to read and hear silliness regarding the WoW Token in Classic.
I like that people are not as angry about lvl 70 boosts? Do you know how much gold people would pay for that service before Blizzard gave that to us?