Couple of tidbits here:

1) you don't need to make an alt to buy the token. A button will appear on the logon screen offering to buy a token and apply it for you, and it'll take the gold evenly from across all your characters.

2) Nothing in WoW is Pay2Win. All you can buy, subscription (and now tokens) aside, are cosmetic stuff - mainly mounts and pets. I know over in Asia they've put a few things on sale for real money like XP boosts, but they've stated they have no plans to bring any of that to the West. Of course, they may change their mind, but I honestly think it just suits the culture in Asia more so they did it.

3) Some folk are complaining about the cost, but there's a precedent here - it's virtually identical to EVE Online's PLEX system that's been running for years, and makes sense imho. Why undercut or even match gamecards or subs? People would no longer buy them and cut off a revenue stream from folks that don't have debit or credit cards (read: teens).

4) At last count, WoW had over ten million subscribers. It's lowest ever point was 6.8 million. That's still a LOT of people. Judge those players however you like, but WoW isn't going anywhere soon.

Edit: Added a point.

Yea I know you don't buy gold in GW2, you buy gems, same pay to win scenario. GW2 is deserted today. MMO's are on their last legs.

Plenty of other games already officially sell gold, and guess what, the bots are still there, the gold farmers are still around, and the worst thing is the game is now officially pay to win. Prices of everything goes sky high, and grinding without a bot becomes futile.
Sad day for WoW, the corporate weasels have won, short term cash flow will increase, but a year from now the player base will have shrunk and be comprised soley of deep pocket whales.

They should of done this ages ago back when accounts were getting hacked left and right and people were buying gold off Chinese gold farmers like crazy. Back when Burning Crusades was the thing. I quit pretty much after Cata so not sure if it got any worse than it was during BC. Damn gold spammers were everywhere.

Fion wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 16:33:
WoW - the only MMOG I know where people are willing to pay $180 a year to basically sit around in the cities

I played from launch and quit after TBC. It's funny but I ended up doing a lot of city-sitting from lack of content even back then as my guild dominated raids and I had full T2 well before any expansion was in sight. I actually quit at TBC because they answered with a massive expansion that started handing gear out to newbs after I had city-sat for eons...

Seeing people complain after the next expack, or the next, or now, about the progression of issues stemming from those early moments kind of makes me laugh and...I'm sure as hell glad I got out when I did. The vast majority of MMOs are a pyramid scheme whereby the small, top elite control the direction of balance and content, and WoW was truly the first where that pyramid was inverted. Maybe that's why it remained so popular but it also meant to me that it was never really a MMO.

Moog wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 15:06:
With the restrictions they've built in that all you can do is auction it (for a Blizzard defined amount of gold) or use it, WTF are they costing more than a 30 day sub, which is $14.99?!!?!

It costs a bit more, but for token sellers it's the only way to legally buy gold, and for token buyers it's the only way to get a month of game time without paying actual cash.

Wallshadows wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 09:23:
Good thing they are region-wide. I guess we'll soon find out if there is a way to buy the Token for gold on an account with a lapsed subscription through account management...somehow.

Hey, you're in luck! ALL accounts can play for free up to level 20 now. just log in, update, and create a new alt.

WoW - the only MMOG I know where people are willing to pay $180 a year to basically sit around in the cities because there hasn't been a content patch released in that time that isn't gated behind a pay-wall.

I was once one of these people. Now I play GW2 and get new story-driven content every two weeks and, oh yea... without paying a dime for any of it. I'll never Pay 2 Play an MMO ever again, let alone one that only releases content via a $60 expansion and little else.

Obviously I was being facetious, I didnt mean tokens or whatever specifically, I meant the idea of paying for an endless stream of virtual stuff, such as subscriptions, items, gold, whatever, not to mention the 3rd party black and gray markets (gold-farming etc.)This token stuff just seems to be a continuation of all that stuff.. I like paying for a game once, basically. Plus on the offchance that actually playing it will change my mind, I dont want to become addicted to one of these things. So THAT is why I dont play MMOs

beigemore wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 14:46:

BicycleRepairMan wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 13:40:
So, out of curiosity, because I have never ever, ever played wow or any other MMO, what the hell is a token? Reading the description, it sounds alot like ingame currency, whats the point if there is gold already? Basically you pay $20 real money for a token that you can sell for pretend money gold? I guess this is why I dont play MMOs or F2P.

Sounds like you weren't playing MMO's anyway, and WoW is only 10 years old. Not like you had time to try playing it well before something like this ever came up.

With the restrictions they've built in that all you can do is auction it (for a Blizzard defined amount of gold) or use it, WTF are they costing more than a 30 day sub, which is $14.99?!!?!

BicycleRepairMan wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 13:40:
So, out of curiosity, because I have never ever, ever played wow or any other MMO, what the hell is a token? Reading the description, it sounds alot like ingame currency, whats the point if there is gold already? Basically you pay $20 real money for a token that you can sell for pretend money gold? I guess this is why I dont play MMOs or F2P.

It's a way for Blizzard to finally get in on that sweet, sweet Cash for Gold market

BicycleRepairMan wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 13:40:
So, out of curiosity, because I have never ever, ever played wow or any other MMO, what the hell is a token? Reading the description, it sounds alot like ingame currency, whats the point if there is gold already? Basically you pay $20 real money for a token that you can sell for pretend money gold? I guess this is why I dont play MMOs or F2P.

Sounds like you weren't playing MMO's anyway, and WoW is only 10 years old. Not like you had time to try playing it well before something like this ever came up.

BicycleRepairMan wrote on Mar 24, 2015, 13:40:
So, out of curiosity, because I have never ever, ever played wow or any other MMO, what the hell is a token? Reading the description, it sounds alot like ingame currency, whats the point if there is gold already? Basically you pay $20 real money for a token that you can sell for pretend money gold? I guess this is why I dont play MMOs or F2P.

http://www.bluesnews.com/s/159518/pay-for-wow-game-time-with-game-gold

So, out of curiosity, because I have never ever, ever played wow or any other MMO, what the hell is a token? Reading the description, it sounds alot like ingame currency, whats the point if there is gold already? Basically you pay $20 real money for a token that you can sell for pretend money gold? I guess this is why I dont play MMOs or F2P.

Your account up to level 20 would be considered a Starter account which has restrictions such as a gold cap of 10 and being unable to trade or use the mail box so you're essentially locked out of everything.

I'd get back in to it if I could get a Token for gold but I wouldn't spend $15 ($20 CDN) in order to take advantage of it. Kind of defeats the purpose and I may as well wait until they throw out a free week of playtime like they usually do towards the end of an expansion or if you've been gone for x amount of time.

I had the same question. I don't have a subscription, but I have 10 characters level locked at level 20. Can I access the store if I can't access the game?

Good thing they are region-wide. I guess we'll soon find out if there is a way to buy the Token for gold on an account with a lapsed subscription through account management...somehow.