World of Warcraft Classic and the WoW Token
World of Warcraft Classic is feeling the impact of the WoW token as one player just sold a rare item for 3 million gold in a GDKP auction, while the rest of the raiding party earned a relatively paltry 120,000 gold each. In essence, one player just became extremely wealthy, while the other 24 participants in the raid will each have a nice chunk of change to spend on mounts, pets, and other goodies.
The GDKP Auction System
A GDKP auction is an in-game auction where players bid on boss drops using gold, with the profits being evenly distributed among the raid participants. The Band of Callous Aggression, a ring, sold for 3 million gold – which is 15 times the maximum amount a player can carry. That’s a lot of gold.
To put that into perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to the cost of Cold Weather Flying, a spell that used to be a significant gold sink back in the day. The amount of time it would take to farm that much gold is astronomical, and even with the recent WoW token Blizzard changes that let you buy in-game gold with real money, it’s still a huge ask.
You’d need to spend countless hours farming – or just buy WoW tokens worth $13,000. That might sound like a lot, but as Blizzard explains on its site, “the World of Warcraft Token is a legitimate and 100% legal way to convert real money into in-game currency.” It’s a way for players who can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on the game to earn gold legitimately.
The Impact on WoW Classic Economy
This is just a small example, but it highlights just how far-reaching the WoW token’s introduction has been. When it reared its head in May, there were concerns about WoW Classic inflation as a result. In this case, it’s not gold farmers that are inflating the economy – it’s the GDKP system itself and the fact that players can now buy gold to sell.
This auction didn’t just affect the wealth of those two players, either. The players who got 120,000 gold each now have a bit more to spend on mounts and other items, but it also has an impact on the game’s economy. This is just a small example of the ongoing arms race between gold farmers and Blizzard, and it serves as a reminder that you can never go back to the “good old days” of World of Warcraft, even if you want to.
If you’re playing WoW Classic, check out some of the essential add-ons you should install to make your experience even better. You might also want to read up on WoW Classic’s upcoming expansion, which is already adding a lot to the vanilla experience.
