1. #1

    Market deflation with WoW Tokens

    So we have seen the doomsayers claim AH prices will skyrocket because of the introduction of the WoW game-time for gold tokens. How about points or thoughts about how it may drop the prices?

    Here is a thought. Prices are going up because a pretend currency in a make believe game has no real value. You do not feel that bad dropping 25k gold for an item you will have for a month or so because it is not really costing you anything. You are buying pixels, with other pixels.

    Now this token will attach a real world value to in game gold. Just to pick numbers, since we do not know what they will be. Let's say a token sells for $15 on the Blizzard store and sells for 15k gold on the AH. Like gold is the value behind paper currency in real life to give it a value, WoW gold now has a value of a dollar per thousand (just pick numbers for easy math, the idea stands whenever actual prices hit live)

    So now someone sees an item on the AH that is selling for 30k gold. That same 30k could buy two months of game time, which is $30 real world dollars and the buyer now has a choice of something with value in real life versus something that has imaginary virtual value in game. Is that 30k now worth more being spent on the token, or do they decide they will buy that shoulder BoE?

    Could this result in that BoE (or equivalent itmes)that used to be 30k now being sold for 15k because the buyer now spends 15k on a token and will only spend 15k on the item? As more people buy tokens because of their having a real value and less people throwing their "extra" gold on the AH because there is nothing better to spend it on going to drive the prices down? Will the person that bought tokens for real money to end up with the gold from the sale, turn around and spend foolishly, or will they make their gold work better because they had to actually spend money to get it?

    Or maybe each side will cancel each other out and prices will stay relatively the same?

    Or will the real world rich people, just go and spend their gold foolishly and drive prices up?

  2. #2
    Nothing will change because people have been buying gold forever. I doubt the rates will even change much. In WoD rates have bounced between 1.5k/$1 - 4k/$1 and the token will be slightly less gold per $ than buying it from other sources since it will be considered "safe".

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Mercarcher View Post
    Nothing will change because people have been buying gold forever. I doubt the rates will even change much. In WoD rates have bounced between 1.5k/$1 - 4k/$1 and the token will be slightly less gold per $ than buying it from other sources since it will be considered "safe".
    But at that rate the token would cost an amount which in my opinion fairly trivial to earn from one character with a garrison.
    The statement by blizzard seemed to suggest that it was aimed at players making more gold than most, as a dump funded by players with less gold but more real life cash.
    As much as I would like to see it being such a low cost as I would rarely need to buy a subscription, I can't see it meaning to be that accessible to so many players.
    Quote Originally Posted by DeadmanWalking View Post
    Your forgot to include the part where we blame casuals for everything because blizzard is catering to casuals when casuals got jack squat for new content the entire expansion, like new dungeons and scenarios.
    Quote Originally Posted by Reinaerd View Post
    T'is good to see there are still people valiantly putting the "Ass" in assumption.

  4. #4
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    I think the price for legal gold will be higher than the illegal gold price is. Why would blizzard let the black market set their rate? Their 100% legal and safe source of gold is more valuable than shady gold dealers gold is.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by SL1200 View Post
    I think the price for legal gold will be higher than the illegal gold price is. Why would blizzard let the black market set their rate? Their 100% legal and safe source of gold is more valuable than shady gold dealers gold is.
    Exactly, Currently "black market" gold is about 1.5k gold per $1, so for $15 it would be about 22.5k gold. Blizzards method being "safer" will lower the amount of gold you get so expect <20k gold for a token.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by ComputerNerd View Post
    But at that rate the token would cost an amount which in my opinion fairly trivial to earn from one character with a garrison.
    The statement by blizzard seemed to suggest that it was aimed at players making more gold than most, as a dump funded by players with less gold but more real life cash.
    As much as I would like to see it being such a low cost as I would rarely need to buy a subscription, I can't see it meaning to be that accessible to so many players.
    The black market will adjust itself then to make itself cheaper than tokens. If it is 50k per $15 token, then the black market will adjust itself so you get 60k/$15.

    The black market will always be cheaper, while blizzards will always be "safer"

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