WoW Introduces WoW Token to Combat Real Money Trading

Some MMOs have developed clever methods of selling subscription time. One of the most clever methods are charging in-game gold for subscription time or gaining the ability to purchase gold in-game. A lot of people think this would only hurt the economy, but the idea has been successful so far with EVE Online and Wildstar.

So successful that World of Warcraft is taking a shining to it. In an upcoming patch, a system that allows players to spend in-game gold on WoW Tokens to purchase subscription time will be available. Players will also have the ability to sell these WoW Tokens to other players and purchase them from the official Cash Shop. For those curious with questions, they can head over to the Q&A page. This system has been quite successful in eliminating RMTers, or real money traders, so we may see this business model expand to other MMOs. Another reason for the introduction of the system is to prevent further account compromises caused by victims purchasing third-party gold.

However, the big question of "Does this mean WoW is going downhill" is raised. Guess we will find out, but we probably won't see it going away over the next 10 or 20 years.