World of Warcraft now has a bundle on sale containing Trader’s Tender, a new premium currency. What’s the deal and why does Reddit hate it?
It appears that World of Warcraft creeps ever-closer to some semblance of a free-to-play MMORPG. Revealed today on the Blizzard store was a somewhat innocuous bundle for two transmog items. The 'Corsage Pack' contains two transmog items for $5.00 USD. However, the more interesting pack-in for this bundle is that it also includes 200 World of Warcraft Trader's Tender, the currency used for the newly added Trading Post feature.
Now, if your first thought was "Wow, I bet the nerds of World of Warcraft hate that!" then you'd be correct. Once more it appears that modern day microtransactions and battle pass-like elements creep into a game that still technically costs 15 bucks a month.
But let's look at the Warcraft Trader's Tender bundle up-close before we get too far in the weeds with editorialization.
World of Warcraft Trader's Tender: Not for sale?
A few months back World of Warcraft Game Director Ion Hazzikostas said in an interview that Trader's Tender would never be sold 'individually.' Clearly, the parsing of that info is that they're more than comfortable putting it in bundles with other items. This 'Corsage Bundle' comes with two items and Tender. Here's the Blizzard description:
No matter where you take your adventures in Azeroth, you can let your personal style bloom with the perfect wrist accessories for any occasion. Stand out with a delicate red-bloom corsage or let the mood take a dramatic turn with a brooding black blossom. You’ll be the center of attention at every social gathering.
In addition, take an extra 200 Traders Tender with you when you visit the Trading Post.
Pack available in the Battle.net Shop for a limited time*. The Fanciful Corsage and Gothic Corsage will arrive in a future rotation of the Trading Post, but no sooner than three months after the pack leaves the Shop.
In fairness to Blizzard, this is not directly selling the new currency. However, this does feel like a slippery slope sort of situation. Ever apparent is how World of Warcraft continues to adopt the trappings of other free-to-play games such as Fortnite. Does this indicate the game's future direction?
Maybe. All bets are off in regards to what Microsoft may potentially want for Blizzard's biggest game. That said, the fans are side-eyeing the move.
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Shocker: Reddit hates it
"'m not at all happy about this, but I'd understand more if they were a little bonus alongside something major," says Reddit user SystemofCells on the forum's post about the move. "Like, if every $25 mount you bought came with a couple hundred trader's tender. Still not great, but less predatory."
And I get where they are coming from. It's not quite as icky as selling the Warcraft Trader's Tender outright. That said, it does feel only a few moves away. This is going to be nothing new to anyone that's paid to level up a battle pass in any other game. But, as one of the few games in the space--if not the only--that has veered away from a free-to-play model, it's notable all the same.
Is the end of a subscription model for WoW nearing an end? I don't think so, but this definitely feels like a move to test the waters for some kind of F2P path.
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