Today, with a post on their website, Blizzard announced a new item will be making its way to World of Warcraft’s real money e-shop relatively soon: the WoW Token. But what does said token do? Redeeming one in-game adds 30 days to the player’s subscription. The important part of it all however, is that WoW tokens can be traded on the game’s action house for in-game gold.
Essentially the idea is one player, tired of grinding for gold, but with more disposable income, purchases the token with real money. This player then sells it for in-game currency to someone who, while having a hoard of virtual gold, is a little strapped for the real kind, who then redeems it for the subscription extension.
This is not a new system in MMOs, having already been explored in other games, such as Eve Online, last year’s Wildstar, and even further back in games like Second Life, to varying degrees of success. But this announcement marks the first appearance of a system of this kind, let alone a way to legally acquire gold with real-world money, in World of Warcraft.
Explaining the decision, Blizzard said:
“We’ve heard feedback from players that they’d be interested in a secure, legitimate way to acquire gold that doesn’t involve the use of unauthorized third-party gold-selling services—one of the primary sources of account compromises. We also know players who’ve amassed large amounts of gold through regular play would be interested in the ability to trade some to other players in exchange for game time, helping cover their subscription costs. The WoW Token feature gives players on both sides of the equation a secure and straightforward way to make that exchange. It opens up a new kind of payment option for World of Warcraft players, and we hope that it will also help lead to fewer account compromises and a better game experience overall.”
As for pricing models and whether the WoW token will lessen gold-farming to the degree Blizzard is hoping, we will just have to wait and see. Last November the game’s latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, released, revitalizing the game.
Are you excited for the WoW Token? Or do you think it will ruin the game? Let us know in the comments. For more on all your MMO and general gaming needs, keep getting your fix here on Gamespresso.