WoW Token Coming Soon – Additional Details, LFR Blackhand This Week, Blue Posts

The recently announced WoW Token is currently in testing on the PTR, and is slated for launch some time after the March 24 release of Patch 6.1.2. In the meantime, we wanted to share some additional details about the Token, including regional pricing information and more on our global rollout plans.

WoW Token Rollout

We’ll begin rolling out the WoW Token in the weeks following Patch 6.1.2’s release, starting with the Americas game region (including realms serving North America, Oceania, and Latin America) and then expanding to other game regions in the weeks after that. Launching the Token once Patch 6.1.2 has been live for a while will help us ensure the foundation for the feature is solid, and kicking things off with a single region is the best way for us to ensure everything’s going smoothly before launching worldwide. We’ll provide further updates on timing as we get closer to the Token’s launch in each region.

Region-wide Exchange

As discussed in our original announcement, each game region (Americas, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, and China) will have its own shared WoW Token exchange. When the rollout begins in the Americas game region, players in North America, Latin America, and Oceania will all be able to purchase a WoW Token from the in-game Shop. In the Americas game region, the price of a Token will be $20 USD (or roughly equivalent in each local currency). We’ll share additional regional pricing details as we get closer to launch.

Once purchased, a Token can then be put up for sale in a region-wide exchange via a new Game Time tab in the Auction House. (Note that while you’ll see the new Game Time tab in that auction house with the launch of Patch 6.1.2, it won’t be active until the WoW Token launches in your region.) While the rest of the Auction House will remain realm-based, a region-wide WoW Token exchange will provide the largest possible pool of prospective buyers and ensures everyone has access to a vibrant, active Token marketplace. In the Americas, Europe, Korea, and Taiwan, players who purchase a WoW Token from the Auction House will be able to redeem it for 30 days of game time.

Going for Gold

Because the Token exchange has to start somewhere, we will be setting the initial gold value of the WoW Token ourselves. The starting gold value in each region will be based on several factors, including regional in-game economies, but ultimately our goal is to select a fair and reasonable starting price. After that, the Token’s gold value will be determined dynamically based primarily on player supply and demand. Simply put, if more WoW Tokens are being listed than are being purchased, the price will automatically drift downward over time. If people are purchasing Tokens from the Auction House faster than they’re being put up for sale, then prices will go up accordingly. As a reminder, to help make sure players can trade WoW Tokens confidently, once a Token sells, the seller will receive the amount of gold they were quoted at the time they listed their Token.

We know a lot of you are excited to exchange a WoW Token or two, and we’re looking forward to making the feature available in the near future. We’ll provide additional updates on the rollout of the WoW Token feature soon.

Introducing the WoW Token
Coming soon to an Azeroth near you: the WoW Token, a new in-game item that allows players to simply and securely exchange gold and game time between each other.

Players will be able to purchase a WoW Token through the in-game Shop for real money, and then sell it on the Auction House for gold at the current market price. When a player buys a WoW Token from the Auction House for gold, the Token becomes Soulbound, and the player can then redeem it for 30 days of game time.

• The WoW Token feature will be enabled at a future date. Patch 6.1.2 adds in the framework needed for the WoW Token feature in the game client and is not active at this time. Check out WoW Token Coming Soon – Additional Details for more details on how the feature works.

Racial Abilities

• Night Elf
  
  • Shadowmeld should now behave as it had before Patch 6.1 and drop the character from combat while in Arenas, Battlegrounds, Rated Battlegrounds, and outdoor PvP zones such as Wintergrasp, Tol Barad, and Ashran.

Garrisons, Followers, and Outposts

• Garrison Campaign Quests
  
  • Dream of Argus: The Crystal Reborn: Fixed an issue where players were unable to interact with the crystal reconstruction device.

Environment and World Events

• Spires of Arak
  
  • Morphed Sentient should no longer despawn while engaged in combat.

Pet Battles

• Race MiniZep: The pet is now unique and is not eligible to be caged or released.

Items

• Gleaming Ring show now correctly create a ring when used by Guardian Druids or Brewmaster Monks.

Bug Fixes

• Players should now be able to complete the achievement, King of the Monsters while trasformed into a Gluttonous Giant.

It's time to take the assault against the Iron Horde to the next level in new Raid content. To help you plan your attack, we’ve broken down the unlock schedule for Blackrock Foundry and the third Draenor world boss – Rukhmar. Are you ready?

Those who plan to jump into the action in the Raid Finder February 17 will need a minimum item level of 635. Here's the rundown:

February 3, 2015:

• Blackrock Foundry opens with Normal and Heroic difficulties available.
• World boss Rukhmar becomes available in Spires of Arak.

February 10, 2015:

• Mythic difficulty becomes available.

February 17, 2015:

• Raid Finder Wing 1: Slagworks (Gruul, Oregorger, and The Blast Furnace) unlocks.

February 24, 2015:

• Raid Finder Wing 2: The Black Forge (Hans’gar and Franzok, Flamebender Ka’graz, and Kromog ) unlocks.

March 10, 2015:

• Raid Finder Wing 3: Iron Assembly (Beastlord Darmac, Operator Thogar, and The Iron Maidens) unlocks.

March 24, 2015:

• Raid Finder Wing 4: Blackhand’s Crucible (Blackhand) unlocks.

Response to Player Feedback
I don't know if anyone else feels this way but to me it kinda feels like blizzard doesn't really know what they are doing anymore ...

They implement something and a minority of people complain about how it works and they change it without taking into consideration the number of subscriptions compared to the number of people complaining its almost as if they're saying"yeah what we did there was bad so lets change it because 2% are unhappy about it" and the majority of us are sitting here like "it wasn't that bad now its horrible" or " yeah it needed changing but not like that" how is this fair to most of us when 2% get what they want and were just suppose to suck it up and accept it because we love playing WoW Blizzard keeps going back on their ideas like they don't have good ideas to start with.
Believe it or not, decisions aren't just made based on posts/player opinion alone. While these can factor into decisions made, we also take a look at player behavior in the game since not everyone takes to the forums or Twitter to express how they are approaching things. Comments here can be helpful for the sake that someone may feel strongly enough about 'x' item/issue, but it doesn't account for everything.

Design is just as much art as it is science and what people may enjoy/like one day may change the next. Being human animals as we are, we can get complacent or bored with "sameness". It's not always easily predictable what the outcome of a change may be, though we try to anticipate as much as possible.

It's not merely a "knowing or not knowing" issue. We have to take into account past experiences as well as sometimes take some (strategic) risks in shaping and molding the game toward its next evolution. With so many many people playing, it's not possible to please everyone at all times, but we do what we can to entertain people as much as we can with the game. We want people to have fun (despite claims to the contrary.) It's just discerning what that means and it will never mean the same thing to everyone.

We have tons of ideas. It's never an issue of having them. It's usually an issue of picking and choosing which ones will work best. Sometimes we miss the mark – we're human after all – but we do our best to make sure those times are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Ghostcrawler may have known what he was doing. This new batch of dev's do not.
There is always this strange idea that there are a "new batch of devs" when that's just not true. We're very fortunate to have many veteran developers who have been with us for years as well as newer developers (new to Blizzard at least) who bring new ideas to the table. All in all though, it's a collaborative process not even just among the World of Warcraft team, but across the company with so many of us also being players.

I know people bring up Ghostcrawler on a regular basis and I and many others here are still friends with him and keep in touch. He was a great part of the team while he was here, but he wasn't solely responsible for development. Like any job, people sometimes move on. That's all there is ever really to say about it.

I know there are people that are going to have feedback about specific items they care about in regard to ongoing development, and muddling those thoughts into this thread isn't the best way to convey them. It's too easy for your thoughts to get lost in everyone else's. If there's an item you wish to share constructive feedback on (with specifics), we can always read and carry them on for you.

As was quoted, we listen and it still stands, we're going to do our best to make the best choices we can for the future of the game as a whole.

Offhandedly dismissing concerns about what players consider 'fun' is standard Blizzard protocol, but doesn't make for good community relations.
At no point have I "offhandedly" or otherwise dismissed concerns. My job (every week) is to convey concerns and constructive feedback that are being bubbled up by the community.

The thing is, even if people have other reasons for logging in (seeing friends etc), that means there is something tacitly fun about that interaction that draws them back. At no point did I say those people are finding all aspects of the game fun, but there must be some aspect of it (even if it's social interaction or "collecting") that they are enjoying and finding compelling.

Again, we read the posts, but posts only reflect one part of the overall interactions people are having with the game. Sometimes those agree and sometimes they don't. We take all things into account and make changes when they seem to be the most appropriate. There is no "all or nothing", that's why there are so many different aspects to the game. Different people enjoy different content types. Some dabble in everything, some only have one aspect they focus on. That doesn't negate the value of the game and it's offerings as a whole.

How much weight is given to in-game behavior? I ask this solely from the perspective that if there is no other choice, or the other choices are worse than the one being acted upon, that particular behavior is valueless when deciding which way a particular decision should go.
You're correct that in-game behavior can only show one part of the whole. The next part is, "why". Again, it can be pretty evident by various factors including what people say along with what they do. In-game behavior can have a lot of weight, but that's not a simple, "they're all doing it so it must be OK." Sometimes what is occurring isn't what the outcome was intended to be, thus we make changes and adjust.

Very few things are cut and dry unless it's an outright exploit or abuse of the game mechanics. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Arena combatants of Azeroth . . . you are not prepared! That’s why we’re giving you a heads up now:

Once again this year, the top World of Warcraft 3v3 Arena teams from around the globe will compete for a chance to face off in the 2015 WoW Arena World Championship, culminating November 6 and 7 at BlizzCon 2015 in Anaheim, California.

If you’re a World of Warcraft Arena competitor, now’s the time to polish up your rotation and gather your group so you too can compete for a chance to secure a spot in the big battle—and win your share of an epic prize pool of $250,000 USD.

Online qualifiers will be held for North America (which will include Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand), Europe, China, and Korea/Taiwan in the near future. We’ll have all the details on qualifier eligibility, rules, and schedules here for you soon.

If you’re a spectator, you’ll be able to catch all of the action live online even if you can’t make it to the show in person. Stay tuned for more information.

Keep an eye on www.blizzcon.com for more details on the 2015 WoW Arena World Championship, and we’ll see you on the battlefield at BlizzCon!