I've been without internet for a few days, so this is probably already been discussed to death, but considering Blizzard has added a new form of currency to the client-string, I'd say it looks pretty certain that we have a lot of microtransactions in the immediate future.
Massive shame, in my opinion; I love the subscription-model precisely because it puts everybody on an even keel, with progress and rewards only coming to those who earn them. Nothing is set-in-stone yet, of course, but the evidence is pretty damning that, best-case scenario, there won't be any truly new mounts or compelling armor-designs available for your subscription, and worse case is pretty obvious -- pay-to-win. I would even call that outcome "likely", as they seem intent on moving forward with XP-boosts and Charms, which are, at best, treading the line.
The only way I see WoW continuing in its current form is some kind of massive player-backlash, but I'm really skeptical that would ever happen at this point.
Bummer, since I still think WoW has the potential to be an awesome game (dailies and the passive themes in this expansion really hurt it), and I still find the core gameplay to be a ton of fun (though I'm not digging the new "Talent" system quite so much). It baffles me to think that 7.7 million subscribers is apparently low enough to play such a risky campaign, considering the sub+microtransaction model has literally never worked, but hey, I'm just a lowly video-game journalist.
I wonder how many "Battle Coins" it will cost for The Ashbringer...?