The World of Warcraft token is coming to WoW Classic, in defiance of the game’s "Classic" moniker, and predictably, the announcement has put the Classic playerbase into an uproar.
The root of the players’ indignation doesn’t necessarily come from the anachronistic nature of the item itself. The World of Warcraft token was first introduced with the Warlords of Draenor expansion in 2015, and so was not a part of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. However, it’s what the token does which is the larger problem for many. The token is purchasable for real world money, and when used, imparts 30 days of game time to the user’s account. However, the token can also be sold in game for gold, making it a way to spend real world money for in-game currency.
The uproar has been so huge that a longtime moderator of the r/ClassicWoW subreddit has revolted, turning on Blizzard, and temporarily removing Rule 4 of the subreddit — a ban against discussing private WoW servers and cheats. That moderator, ZeldenGM, has since deleted their post, but the text has been saved elsewhere for posterity.
"We’ve upheld a rule against discussion of private servers and cheats on the basis of a good faith that Blizzard would be running Classic to a certain standard … it’s clear today that the mask of integrity has totally fallen from the face of greed. As such feel free to discuss other options to play all versions of Classic in a way that has a higher integrity than what Blizzard has to offer."
ZeldenGM has since resigned from moderation duties, and Rule 4 has been reintroduced. But it speaks volumes about how strongly many in the community feel about this issue that a moderator would be willing to step down over it.
Blizzard has issued a response to the outcry, explaining that introducing the token was necessary in order to try and limit third-party gold farming in WoW Classic. In the last two weeks, Blizzard claims to have banned almost 250,000 accounts for exploitative actions, but it feels as if the battle never ends. By giving players a way to purchase gold legitimately, Blizzard hopes to stem the tide of third-party gold sellers.
Not all players are supportive of the backlash, and point out that if anyone is going to make money from selling gold, it might as well be the actual creators of the game itself. It’s true that WoW players are going to buy gold regardless of whether Blizzard offers it or not, and by generating more revenue from WoW Classic, Blizzard can justify spending more time on development for the game. However, many players are worried this could be a slippery slope to more monetization in the previously "pure" game. Only time will tell.