World of Warcraft Token System Launches After Server Maintenance This Week

Blizzard is launching the World of Warcraft Token subscription system this week in order to combat the hordes (pun intended) of banned gold-farming websites.

Blizzard is launching the Patch 6.1.2 for World of Warcraft, which will officially add WoW Tokens to the game. The WoW Token system allows players to buy subscription time via in-game gold. Players can buy WoW Tokens to sell, via Auction House, with real life moolah. Would-be buyers can go to the Game Time area of the Auction House to purchase WoW Tokens with in-game gold. Once bought via AH, the WoW Token becomes Soulbound to the buyer, meaning they can't be resold. The AH's pricing of the WoW Token will change based on the supply and demand of them on the market. When selling a Token, there will be a minimum amount of gold that the Token will sell for, which could increase or decrease due to the market. Starting at a 30,000 gold basis, this price will fluctuate based on how many people are selling Tokens and how many are buying them.

Here's what Blizzard said about the WoW Token system going live:

The WoW Token will be going live in the Americas region (North America, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand) on April 7 when maintenance concludes, at approximately 10 a.m. PDT. The WoW Token will be available for $20 USD/$25 AUD from the in-game Shop, and will be set at a starting price of 30,000 gold in the Auction House across the Americas region. From that point forward, the gold price will automatically fluctuate based on player supply and demand. To start we’ll be limiting the number of Token purchases to 10 within a 30-day period, but this limit may be adjusted over time. While Tokens will be available immediately from the Shop, please note that there may be a delay before Tokens put up for sale on the Auction House become available for purchase with gold.

Based on the tutorial video above, Blizzard's current Token price on the Public Test Realm was at around 15,000 gold. Considering that Tokens cost $20 each and add 30 days of game time, that's relatively low. Nevertheless, we can't wait to see how this affects the Azerothian economy.