Could Trading Post Tenders be coming to the online shop?

Images of Trading Post Tenders of various denominations in the style of the Battle.net cash shop were datamined by Wowhead from the latest patch 10.1.5 PTR update, and we have some concerns. While Blizzard hasn’t chimed in one way or the other yet on this information, it wouldn’t be a positive development for one of Dragonflight‘s most popular new features, which rewards players for engaging in varied activities throughout the game every month in the style of a battle pass.

Of course it must be stated at the outset that since this is datamined, without official statement it can’t yet be assumed that we’re definitely going to be able to purchase Trading Post Tenders with real money. For one thing, it’s pretty odd how granular the choices are — 250 through 1000 in 50 tender increments. If this was strictly a cash shop currency addition, wouldn’t it make more sense to see a small number of choices (say, 500, 1000, and 2500) rather than a whole array of them? In addition, maxing out at 1000 seems an odd tactic if the goal is to help purchase multiple big ticket items from the Trading Post, since items like mounts usually come in just under that amount.

But while we wait and see whether cash purchase of Tenders is forthcoming, it’s important to discuss why it’s probably not a good thing. The issue from my point-of-view is the intention. Store-bought Tenders are aimed squarely at those who enjoy collecting in game, a.k.a. the most loyal and reliable subs in World of Warcraft. You’re basically admitting that you can’t figure out a way to bring in more revenue so you’re going to milk devoted players via FOMO and artificial scarcity. It’s what free-to-play games do to make money, and nothing is stopping Blizzard from expanding the model into other facets of the game.

Look I don’t think it would be the end of the World (… of Warcraft), but as a harbinger of things to come it would be a concerning one. While I’ve never been one to presume a “slippery slope” when it comes to WoW‘s cash shop endeavors (for example, the rarity with which they add new offerings to the cash shop pale greatly in comparison to what they add to be earned in the game) the problem with Trading Post Tenders is you’re now asking for cash for people’s playtime above-and-beyond the subscription cost. Again, this is a free-to-play tactic and it’s not something that should be present in World of Warcraft. Hopefully if the development team has been considering whether to implement it a deeply negative response from the community will deter them from this course of action.