I was originally firmly against the token being brought to Classic. I was recently watching a video that mentioned some traces of the token being found in the game files for Classic. Admittedly this video is made by Alexensual and based on what we know this is a gigantic leap, but I think it stimulates conversation. So what if the token was brought to Classic? How would you feel?

I'll say that I am pro token (changed within the last 6 months seeing the impact of bots on private servers). After having played vanilla retail, playing retail up to and including BFA and playing on Blizzlike private, I cant see a compelling argument for no token. The way I see it, players will buy gold either way and there is no strong evidence to indicate that the token itself increase the quantity of gold being purchased and traded. The token disrupts the economy LESS than gold farmers. Lets use a hypothetical comparison...

Token: Player 1 plays the game and legitimately earns gold by positively contributing to the game. Player 1 purchases a token from Player 2 for Xg pieces. Player 1 has essentially opened trade and traded gold with another player without impacting the greater economy. This IS pay to win for player 2, but the greater economy has not been impacted to the same degree that it would be by a gold farmer.

Gold farmer: Runs 25 fishing bots simultaneously. Single-handedly creates a monopoly on fish and essentially removes fishing from the game. Players can participate in ANY other endeavor and purchase FAR more fish by buying them off the AH than they would be able to by going out and fishing. It is now impossible to justify fishing from an efficiency standpoint. This influx in available fish has had a large impact on PvP and increases the amount of consumes that are being used because they are so readily available which shifts the meta on a server. The sales of fish are creating black gold which is then being sold to players in large quantities. This gold is also being reinvested in rare items and spiking the value of desirable items on the server. Whats worse? There is less overhead this time around to running bots... Classic is set to be released with a combined sub to retail. This means that this issue will inevitably be worse.

I will say that they should mitigate this with various methods. I would like to see a limit placed on tokens being purchased by any account. Perhaps 1-2 per month.

Is the token pay to win? Yes. Is it the lesser of two evils? I would argue that it is. What is your argument against the token? Are you opposed based on the principal? Do you have evidence to suggest that the token increases the gold being purchased and thus making the game MORE pay to win? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Alex is typically a bit of a turd, but I think this makes a good discussion topic and I couldn't find anything related when searching.
Reference material for the mention of traces of the token being found in Classic:

I'd take whatever Alex says with a grain of salt. He makes outlandish claims all the time and when one eventually lands he touts that he was, "right all along, but no one listened." If I said a bunch of crazy shit constantly eventually something I said would happen. That being said - I don't dislike Alex, I just don't agree with him on a vast majority of what he says.

I'm sure the store functionality was left in the mpqs, just like everything else. They will also more than likely use this interface for character transfers (something they've already stated). I have high doubts they'll bring a WoW token in during the first life cycle of classic. i.e. if they do release it, it will be after the game is dead. Is the token P2W? Absolutely. But will it release with the inception of Classic? If it does, not immediately, or even relatively soon after.

Why? Because they're currently banking off the notion that new players who return will purchase a sub, and continue to purchase a sub.

As for gold farming - gold farming has been heavily reduced since Blizzard decided to use obfuscation with their code with the launch of Legion. Rumor has it they hired a third party company to handle it, making bot studios like ShitBuddy (won't use the actual name) give up entirely.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I'd take whatever Alex says with a grain of salt. He makes outlandish claims all the time...

Absolutely. Hes a turd. I also believe they wouldn't launch with a token but I could definitely see it being released after a short time.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

As for gold farming - gold farming has been heavily reduced since Blizzard decided to use obfuscation with their code with the launch of Legion. Rumor has it they hired a third party company to handle it, making bot studios like ShitBuddy (won't use the actual name) give up entirely.

Bots are still a massive issue in retail, despite the fact that their profit margins have been derailed by the token. You can find tons of evidence and videos of bots being readily accessible and used in 2019 with some quick searches. The reality is that Classic will incentivize botting without the token.

So @Nenski what is your opinion on the token? Would you be opposed to it? Are you pro token?



Edit: several edits for context, apologies. Wanted to give video reference.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I'd take whatever Alex says with a grain of salt. He makes outlandish claims all the time...

Absolutely. Hes a turd. I also believe they wouldn't launch with a token but I could definitely see it being released after a short time.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

As for gold farming - gold farming has been heavily reduced since Blizzard decided to use obfuscation with their code with the launch of Legion. Rumor has it they hired a third party company to handle it, making bot studios like ShitBuddy (won't use the actual name) give up entirely.

Bots are still a massive issue in retail, despite the fact that their profit margins have been derailed by the token. You can find tons of evidence and videos of bots being readily accessible and used in 2019 with some quick searches. The reality is that Classic will incentivize botting without the token.

So @Nenski what is your opinion on the token? Would you be opposed to it? Are you pro token?



Edit: several edits for context, apologies. Wanted to give video reference.

Botting and hacking is virtually impossible to prevent. It will always happen - forever. That being said, there's little to none publicly available bots for retail because of obfuscation. I wouldn't put an autohotkey program such as Fishmonger under the same category of other all-in-one bots which access memory.

I think any P2W in a game is complete and utter cancer and undermines the game design of said game. I would rather have everyone pay $15 a month than see WoW tokens on the AH. But like I stated before, if they do add them it won't be for a long time.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

That being said, there's little to none publicly available bots for retail because of obfuscation. I wouldn't put an autohotkey program such as Fishmonger under the same category of other all-in-one bots which access memory.

The result is the same though isn't it? A quick google search gets you a bot (any bot, not just fishmonger) and you are impacting the economy. This will happen. There is no evidence to suggest that having the token increases or decreases the amount of gold being bought/traded between players. Fishmonger is an interesting case, and I chose to use this as a talking point because its actually free. You can get access to this bot for 1 month without paying anything. Pair that low entry fee with a game that has no base cost and this is a recipe for disaster.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I think any P2W in a game is complete and utter cancer and undermines the game design of said game. I would rather have everyone pay $15 a month than see WoW tokens on the AH. But like I stated before, if they do add them it won't be for a long time.

I agree. So your argument is more based on principal? You are opposed to the token as it is pay to win, even though it may create a healthier economy overall?

Edit: another interesting talking piece here would be bans. What happens when you get banned in Classic? Does that affect your live account too? Are these connected, or is it the same as other IP's? For example, if you get banned in Overwatch, you dont get banned in WoW. This could also create an issue as people with BFA accounts could bot in Classic without fear of losing their primary account. With Classic being inclusive, this could actually add to the issue.

WOW tokens shouldn't be in classic because they would increase the total amount of gold bought, would lead to inflation, and weren't in vanilla.

WOW tokens would increase the total amount of gold bought because unlike gold farmers the WOW token is easy buy and sell, is blizzard sanctioned, and isn't frowned upon by the community. WOW tokens are easy to buy, you can get them with just a few clicks by going to the in-game store and purchasing them with the credit card that is already hooked up with you Bnet account. They are also incredibly easy to sell because they have there own tab at the auction house. To make matters worse WOW tokens are blizzard sanctioned gold buying, meaning that you don't get banned for buying and selling WOW tokens but you do get banned for buying gold from a gold farmer. On top of this, buying gold from a gold farmer is frowned upon by the community but buying gold through the WOW token most likely wouldn't be. The ease of access, lack of chance of getting banned, and shamelessness on behalf of players undoubtedly lead to an increase of gold sold.

If the WOW token was added to Classic it would lead to inflation because players would farm more raw gold then usual in order to afford their subscription fee. This increase of raw gold being farmed would cause inflation over time as long as WOW tokens were in Classic. This inflation would make everything that is bought and sold between players more expensive and make the WOW token more worthwhile to buy so more people would buy it and this would lead to inflation getting even worse and it would snowball on itself until the sever got to a hyper inflated state.

Lastly the addition of WOW tokens would be a change to classic that could get in the way of the faithful recreation of the game that we all want.

As far as I am aware gold farmers still operate in spite of tokens existing, so I don't see the advantage of advocating in favor of tokens.
That being said, since tokens don't add gold to the economy, they aren't exactly a deal breaker for me either. I simply would prefer not to have them as their existence would only increase the number of people engaging in P2W behavior.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

That being said, there's little to none publicly available bots for retail because of obfuscation. I wouldn't put an autohotkey program such as Fishmonger under the same category of other all-in-one bots which access memory.

The result is the same though isn't it? A quick google search gets you a bot (any bot, not just fishmonger) and you are impacting the economy. This will happen. There is no evidence to suggest that having the token increases or decreases the amount of gold being bought/traded between players. Fishmonger is an interesting case, and I chose to use this as a talking point because its actually free. You can get access to this bot for 1 month without paying anything. Pair that low entry fee with a game that has no base cost and this is a recipe for disaster.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I think any P2W in a game is complete and utter cancer and undermines the game design of said game. I would rather have everyone pay $15 a month than see WoW tokens on the AH. But like I stated before, if they do add them it won't be for a long time.

I agree. So your argument is more based on principal? You are opposed to the token as it is pay to win, even though it may create a healthier economy overall?

Bots impact an economy yes, but comparable to how many bots functioned on live servers comparatively from just 5 years ago, to today is a drastic change, and I mean drastic. What quickly available bots are you referencing? I checked for public bots and all of them are no longer providing for retail WoW (which would put Classic in the same boat). If you're referencing a private WoW bot, good luck. Most offered are scams, or built upon other project's code and will either cost you more than it's worth, or scam you out of money. You can read discussions on why many of these botting companies quit offering their bot on their forums (again, I won't link them here).

Listen, if you give the option to players to legally obtain gold, which will give them an advantage over other players, they're going to buy it. This is how predatory marketing works. They create sophisticated marketing systems that manipulate consumers into purchasing gold which is turned into upgrades. Buying upgrades makes you more powerful - thus reinforcing a consumers purchasing habits. This method is used in more games than I care to talk about.
While Blizzard will never admit it, the reason they offered a WoW token was to alleviate player bans from illegally obtained gold. The threat of a suspension or permanent closure deters a majority of players from purchasing gold. Once Blizzard opened the flood gates to allow any player to purchase gold, you gain the illegal gold purchasers and on top of that you also add the non-illegal (legit) players purchasing gold. So did this increase purchasing WoW tokens for gold? Undoubtedly. Currently, I will admit the amount of gold purchased is probably at it's all time low. Gold has been devaluing itself since Cataclysm, and the necessity for it is very low comparable to older expansions.

If you want to create a "healthier economy" there are better methods than creating a WoW token gold dump that won't affect the economy as much.

Sierick wrote: ↑

5 years ago

WOW tokens shouldn't be in classic because they would increase the total amount of gold bought, would lead to inflation, and weren't in vanilla.

WOW tokens would increase the total amount of gold bought because unlike gold farmers the WOW token is easy buy and sell, is blizzard sanctioned, and isn't frowned upon by the community.

Source? I hear this sentiment a lot but is there any evidence that this is true? I'm not being intentionally combative, I am genuinely curious. It sounds like the people opposed to the token are echoing this same idea. Tokens increase gold being bought and makes the game p2w... How do we know this for certain?

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Sierick wrote: ↑

5 years ago

WOW tokens shouldn't be in classic because they would increase the total amount of gold bought, would lead to inflation, and weren't in vanilla.

WOW tokens would increase the total amount of gold bought because unlike gold farmers the WOW token is easy buy and sell, is blizzard sanctioned, and isn't frowned upon by the community.

Source? I hear this sentiment a lot but is there any evidence that this is true? I'm not being intentionally combative, I am genuinely curious. It sounds like the people opposed to the token are echoing this same idea. Tokens increase gold being bought and makes the game p2w... How do we know this for certain?

Blizzard would never release this information, but through marketing methodology it's implied this is the case. Check my post above.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Source? I hear this sentiment a lot but is there any evidence that this is true?

I don't think anyone but blizzard truly knows how much the wow token impacted how much gold is bought and sold, but the WOW token leaded to inflation. It was added in WOD and at the end of the month it was added $20 got you 25K gold and during legion on average $20 got you 250K

Also here is a source:
https://wowtokenprices.com/extended-history

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Blizzard would never release this information, but through marketing methodology it's implied this is the case. Check my post above.

Having played on private, I'm inclined to disagree. Bots and gold are readily available and being promoted and advertised ingame. You will be flooded with whispers all day. This is hardly an underground market that has some sort of mystery or barrier to entry. Players will want gold. Gold will be advertised. Gold will be available for purchase to players. There will be a demand and thus a supply will be created to meet that demand. Gold will be sold or bought with or without the token. The only compelling argument I could see in opposition to the token would be some sort of evidence that the token increases the quantity of gold being sold. As you said, this is likely unavailable and thus I am inclined to think there is no strong argument against the token that can be supported with evidence.

Sierick wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I don't think anyone but blizzard truly knows how much the wow token impacted how much gold is bought and sold, but the WOW token leaded to inflation. It was added in WOD and at the end of the month it was added $20 got you 25K gold and during legion on average $20 got you 250K

Also here is a source:
https://wowtokenprices.com/extended-history

Having played each and every expansion, I noticed a significant drop off of gold sales after the token. Though this is anecdotal, it makes sense. The market established a value for the token and removed the repercussions of buying black gold. Blizzard simply made a more convenient and safe method for users to trade gold by hosting the sale themselves. If there is no token, availability will drive would-be buyers to gold sellers. While it may dissuade some buyers, many will still purchase gold like they did in vanilla and like they continue to do on private.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Blizzard would never release this information, but through marketing methodology it's implied this is the case. Check my post above.

Having played on private, I'm inclined to disagree. Bots and gold are readily available and being promoted and advertised ingame. You will be flooded with whispers all day. This is hardly an underground market that has some sort of mystery or barrier to entry. Players will want gold. Gold will be advertised. Gold will be available for purchase to players. There will be a demand and thus a supply will be created to meet that demand. Gold will be sold or bought with or without the token. The only compelling argument I could see in opposition to the token would be some sort of evidence that the token increases the quantity of gold being sold. As you said, this is likely unavailable and thus I am inclined to think there is no strong argument against the token that can be supported with evidence.

Keyword: private server. Blizzard's anti-cheat is magnitudes more effective than any private server. If you can find a working public BfA bot that accesses memory I'd be shocked. Gold will always be advertised, just like botters will always exist. The amount compared to a private server will be drastically different. Is this enough of a reason to implement WoW tokens? No.

I dont like introducing the P2W element into the game. Classic has always rewarded the dedicated, and wow token will reward the ones with money to spend. I would prefer tokens stay out, and gold buying continue to be a ban-able offense. Token makes it easier, and eliminates the risk of buying gold.

Yes, there will be bots and gold buying, but it will be a higher risk due to potentially getting banned. And when they make the bans, the remove the ill gotten gains out of the econ.

With the token, there is no penalty for me buying by gear with IRL $$$, those who can and wish to, will buy their way to the top rather than earn it.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Keyword: private server. Blizzard's anti-cheat is magnitudes more effective than any private server. If you can find a working public BfA bot that accesses memory I'd be shocked. Gold will always be advertised, just like botters will always exist. The amount compared to a private server will be drastically different. Is this enough of a reason to implement WoW tokens? No.

As can be seen by the videos linked previously, bots are still in full operation in retail. With no overhead to purchasing a Classic account and demand for bots, the development of better software is a surefire outcome.

"If you can find a working public BfA bot that accesses memory I'd be shocked." Why? I linked a bot that invalidates fishing which was my initial argument... You can find videos of bots herbing in BFA as well. The outcome is the same.

"The amount compared to a private server will be drastically different". Why? Why do private servers have so many bots? I would argue that there is no overhead and there is high demand. Your argument is that the anti cheat systems Blizzard has will counter bots? Bots can work in BFA. Bots ARE working in BFA. If you can bot, and there is a demand and the overhead is reduced, botting is a guarantee. To say otherwise is a bit naive.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Keyword: private server. Blizzard's anti-cheat is magnitudes more effective than any private server. If you can find a working public BfA bot that accesses memory I'd be shocked. Gold will always be advertised, just like botters will always exist. The amount compared to a private server will be drastically different. Is this enough of a reason to implement WoW tokens? No.

As can be seen by the videos linked previously, bots are still in full operation in retail. With no overhead to purchasing a Classic account and demand for bots, the development of better software is a surefire outcome.

"If you can find a working public BfA bot that accesses memory I'd be shocked." Why? I linked a bot that invalidates fishing which was my initial argument... You can find videos of bots herbing in BFA as well. The outcome is the same.

"The amount compared to a private server will be drastically different". Why? Why do private servers have so many bots? I would argue that there is no overhead and there is high demand. Your argument is that the anti cheat systems Blizzard has will counter bots? Bots can work in BFA. Bots ARE working in BFA. If you can bot, and there is a demand and the overhead is reduced, botting is a guarantee. To say otherwise is a bit naive.

This will be my last reply...

I've stated numerous times that 100% bot and hack prevention is impossible. Botters will exist - forever. However, like I stated before, the amount of bots will be drastically less than what you would see on a private server. The bots you are seeing currently in BFA (very few) are either private or autohotkey bots. They're not readily available to the mass public, meaning far less bots. Blizzard expunged almost all of the publicly available bots for Legion - BfA, and have continued to do so today through obfuscation and reverse engineering publicly available bots. Regardless of if it's an autohotkey bot (Fishmonger) or a coordinate bot, you'll be banned quickly. If you think otherwise, then you need to try it yourself and see how long you'll last - protip: not long. You must also take into consideration that not only is Blizzard's anti-cheat catching botters and hackers, you now also have non-sharding areas where players can see everyone. No longer will a bot be able to hide on a dead cluster and farm until a player shows up, and simply switch out. This means there is now two extremely strong methods of catching botters.

Will botting affect the economy? Yes, but at the level you're making it out to be, it still doesn't warrant the inception of WoW tokens in order to combat botting.

As for private servers, the reason they have so many bots is for two reasons (there's more but I simply don't have the time to go over all of them), one because of the lack of sophisticated anti-cheat and funding. Private servers don't have entire 15 year veteran teams dedicated to hacking and bot prevention. And two, because accounts are free.
Out of all the MMOs ever made, Blizzard has the most sophisticated anti-cheat systems on the market (and no, I'm not tooting Blizzard's horn). They've had to because they've had the most users, financial stability, and etc.

Botters will always exist. At no point did I ever say they didn't, or that Blizzard would prevent all of them. With the release of Classic, publicly available bots will exist, and then quickly fade. You can literally look up all of the previously big bot competitors and see that they gave up. Botting will ALWAYS exist - forever, and as a byproduct, will affect the economy. I've given tons of great reasons why botting wouldn't damage the economy as much as WoW tokens, all of which are quite logically sound.

However, would botting on Classic cause more economic damage than WoW tokens?

No.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

This will be my last reply...
I've stated numerous times that 100% bot and hack prevention is impossible. Botters will exist - forever.

Agree wholeheartedly, and that is the beauty of the token. It takes a massive chunk out of the botters while also enhancing the economy as no amount of anticheat will ever deal with botters. They are an inevitability.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

However, like I stated before, the amount of bots will be drastically less than what you would see on a private server.

We disagree here.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

They're not readily available to the mass public, meaning far less bots.

See fishmonger video above. Free. Easily accessed by anyone.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If you think otherwise, then you need to try it yourself and see how long you'll last - protip: not long.

The comment section on the fishmonger video disagrees with you. They are not being banned.

Nenski wrote: ↑

5 years ago

However, would botting on Classic cause more economic damage than WoW tokens?

No.

Its unfortunate that you've chosen to end the conversation there, I'd love to hear how you think a bot would have less impact on the economy than a token.

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Nenski wrote: ↑
30 minutes ago
However, like I stated before, the amount of bots will be drastically less than what you would see on a private server.

We disagree here.

I'm with @Nenski here, it would be drastically easier and risk free to create a bot for a shitty run MaNGOS pserver than a Blizzard run server utilising their latest security tech. Not only that, but on a pserver players are much more willing to risk paying botters for gold, because the risk of a ban is far less likely, and far less detrimental than having your bnet account banned. Not only that, but half (if not more) of the pservers are run by scumbags who collude with gold sellers, account sellers, item gifting for $$ etc. so their credibility in providing a bot free server is negligible. PServers are ultimately run for a quick profit, even though they will claim everywhere on their websites that it's all from the heart for the people, bullshit. F R E S H meme just plays into it, get the huge populations in there, get the competition and the thrill of the race back, get the bots/gold sellers/account sellers/R14 item 'gifting' and collect your dirty money and wait for the next F R E S H server launch.

I don't want tokens, I want Classic WoW. I want Blizzard to continue to work on their security tech to prevent as many bots as possible and be ruthless with the ban hammer/legal threats. There will always be bots, so focus on reducing the bulk of them so we can just play classic as true to the vanilla experience as possible.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I don't want tokens, I want Classic WoW. I want Blizzard to continue to work on their security tech to prevent as many bots as possible and be ruthless with the ban hammer/legal threats. There will always be bots, so focus on reducing the bulk of them so we can just play classic as true to the vanilla experience as possible.

Exactly WOW tokens would be an extreme overreaction that would fundamentally chance Classic WOW

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I'm with @Nenski here, it would be drastically easier and risk free to create a bot for a shitty run MaNGOS pserver than a Blizzard run server utilising their latest security tech.

Right. But I linked a video of a bot being used in BFA. They exist. They work. Difficulty aside, they are available.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I don't want tokens, I want Classic WoW. I want Blizzard to continue to work on their security tech to prevent as many bots as possible and be ruthless with the ban hammer/legal threats. There will always be bots, so focus on reducing the bulk of them so we can just play classic as true to the vanilla experience as possible.

Thats a fair perception. I think this is the difference... We both accept that there will be bots and im okay with compromising on my own principals (selling the token) to alleviate most of the botting issue and promote a healthier economy. You guys would rather take a moral stance despite the fact that the token would likely be better for the health of the economy. Is that fair?

Stfuppercut wrote: ↑

5 years ago

You guys would rather take a moral stance despite the fact that the token would likely be better for the health of the economy.

No, I just want Blizzard to focus on security and supplying Classic WoW experience, over providing a WoW Token as an easy out. Then you just have 2 camps competing against each other for who wants my credit card details. I just want to pay my subscription to play, knowing that Blizzard are doing everything they can to protect my playing experience that I am paying for.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

No, I just want Blizzard to focus on security and supplying Classic WoW experience, over providing a WoW Token as an easy out.

This exactly it is an easy out. An easy solution to an inevitable problem. A problem that will be compounded by various contributing factors... Lower overhead... Inclusive sub... Modern generation of quick-fix gamers... The social perception of buying gold has be changed due to the token... Etc etc etc...

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Then you just have 2 camps competing against each other for who wants my credit card details. I just want to pay my subscription to play, knowing that Blizzard are doing everything they can to protect my playing experience that I am paying for.

You and me both. But I think the easy out is the best method to avoid the inevitable outcome of gold sales. Despite the obvious drawbacks.

The #nochanges part of me will always have an issue with bringing WoW Token into Classic. And I tend to agree with previous posters that this will create insane inflation, and since I historically have no interest in gold farming, this will have a pretty detrimental effect on my playtime, as all services and auction house prices will be seriously inflated. Bots and gold buying are an underground blackmarket affair that would be closely scrutinised by Blizzard, and people will likely avoid buying from sketchy websites. WoW Token will be used by a vast majority of players and it will likely lead to a LOT of gold farming from players, inflating gold prices. It will be widespread and acceptable. Buying from sketchy gold seller websites is frowned on by the community and will not be widespread. The minority will be using bots/buying from gold sellers. The majority will be buying/selling WoW tokens. This is the problem I see.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

The #nochanges part of me will always have an issue with bringing WoW Token into Classic. And I tend to agree with previous posters that this will create insane inflation, and since I historically have no interest in gold farming, this will have a pretty detrimental effect on my playtime, as all services and auction house prices will be seriously inflated.

I understand the sentiment, I just feel that the obvious impacts of a botter will inherently cause more inflation than players playing legitimately, positively contributing to the game and then trading other players their clean gold for game time.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Bots and gold buying are an underground blackmarket affair that would be closely scrutinized by Blizzard, and people will likely avoid buying from sketchy websites.

With the modern age of microtransactions and the high demand for gold, I can see many premier/trusted gold buying sites like elitemmorpg resurfacing with Classic if there is no token. There is FAR too much money to be made. Hell, on private players are paying 20-40$ USD for 100g on the first week of launch. This obviously balances over time, but even late game pservers are selling 100g for 10$. The demand is there and people will pay for it and thus bots will be ran to satiate that demand.

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

WoW Token will be used by a vast majority of players and it will likely lead to a LOT of gold farming from players, inflating gold prices. It will be widespread and acceptable. Buying from sketchy gold seller websites is frowned on by the community and will not be widespread. The minority will be using bots/buying from gold sellers. The majority will be buying/selling WoW tokens. This is the problem I see.

Where is the source on this though? How do we know that the token increases the amount of gold being purchased?