The Burning Crusade Phase 1 Overview
We can all say with some confidence that this line of the game will come to an end, so allowing players to have fun and play however they want makes sense. Also, let's address the elephant in the room: We'll never know exactly how many players are buying gold or at what volume, but it's widely acknowledged that it happens, and this could significantly reduce it.
That said, there are plenty of arguments against it, such as that it could create toxicity, as some players would be willing to shell out cash for gold and then craft their Spellstrike sets, for example, and be ahead of other players, or afford higher-end consumables and perform better in raids. There's also concern about gold inflation.
As for the economic concern, the WoW Token itself is purchased with real money, sold on the Auction House, and another player buys it with in-game gold. Thus, there's no "new gold" being created; rather, it's an exchange. Speaking to the pressure to perform with gear or consumables, the environment you play in certainly impacts this. This version of the game feels more like communities are confined to guilds than to the realm. Of course, some players rely on PUGs, so the "benchmark" for gearing or preparation could be increased in some groups should this be added.
Still, a more casual guild won't necessarily have these sorts of pressures, so that potential "FOMO" wouldn't exist as strongly. If you're in a more "serious" raiding guild, these are things you're likely going to do anyway, and the WoW Token streamlines that more and would enable those players to focus their attention elsewhere, such as running Heroics to help guildmates or leveling additional characters to help the guild.
This is a harder feature to argue for, but based on the premise that this is essentially a longer-term seasonal mode, perhaps it could make sense, rather than a more long-term version of Classic WoW that we appear to be lined up to get soon. As an alternative to the WoW Token, GDKP making a return for TBC Anniversary could be an option, though that ship has likely sailed.
Do you think Blizzard should add the WoW Token to Anniversary servers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
