The Lich King brings a new menace to Wrath Classic: The WoW Token

You can hear the dreaded Lich King, Arthas Menethil, laughing in the back of your head. Penetrating your thoughts with icey precision, you stand unable to react or bend against his saronite steel-will. Your actions are his whims alone as you stand at attention for his newest display of power. "And now, I bring forth my most powerful minion to date and the one that will bring ruin to all of WoW Classic: Token, arise and bring dread to all who sought an unsullied experience!"

Yes, you've heard right: Arthas is no longer playing fair. It appears the Lich King has forced his minions at Blizzard to introduce the WoW Token meta-currency to its retro servers. Announced earlier today, the Wrath Classic Token allows players to, essentially, buy gold. Which is to say, allowing players to do the thing they can also do on the normal, "retail" version.

And what do you know, fans aren't happy.

"Since the sub came out we've upheld a rule against discussion of private servers and cheats etc on the basis of a good faith that Blizzard would be running Classic to a certain standard," says the top post from a moderator on the sub-Reddit /rwowclassic. "As such feel free to discuss other options to play all versions of Classic in a way that has a higher integrity than what Blizzard has to offer."

Just incase you were wondering how WoW Classic players feel about the Token. In case you're confused at the what and why of the matter, allow me to give you the TL;DR.

Introduced back in 2015 with patch 6.1.2, the WoW Token is, essentially, a way to purchase gold--the in-game currency of World of Warcraft. While the move was announced and introduced as a way to combat the scourge of Steve Bannon and his gold farmers, it also had other multiple effects. Chief of which was doing a number on the game's in-game economy. Related, it also provided a way for less intense players of the game to "catch-up" through sheer gold-spending power.

For some enterprising players it can also be a way to "earn" free WoW game time. WoW Tokens can be bought of the auction house for in-game gold and, in turn, used as store credit on the Blizzard shop.

A number of disgruntled WoW players at the time called it the reason for giving up on the retail version of the game. They wouldn't return until the launch of WoW Classic and a return to the "purity" of the game's roots.

One of Wrath Classic's main selling points is offering an experience frozen in time. For many old-school WoW players this means offering an experience devoid of Warcraft's modern ideals and choices. However, this has been tested time and again throughout the history of WoW Classic and its existence.

Other anachronistic features include mounts and pets not offered originally, changes to the dungeon finder settings, patch modifications, and bug fixes. While many of these seem inane, each is enough of a deal to the WoW Classic community to raise ire. The WoW Token coming to Wrath Classic is no different.

However, the truth behind the anger is that WoW Classic is a game on borrowed time. Eventually it will cross a nexus point of content where the game is no longer "classic" enough for those fans. Instead, it appears Blizzard is going the route of wish fulfillment to draw players in.

Never got that cool gear set in Wrath? Always wanted to experience what it was like to play old school World of Warcraft on top? Well, here you go. Current--or current for now--Classic players are equal parts angry and raising their nose at the move.

"An absolute fucking joke. Guess the player numbers took a nosedive recently and its time to squeeze," writes one commenter in the /r wowclassic forums. Truth be told, we have no clue if the addition of the token will add, reduce, or stabilize player numbers. It's a data point that Activision-Blizzard doesn't give freely.

What it does give, however, is sales numbers. In that regard it appears World of Warcraft is doing just fine, with or without its 'Classic' contingent. In its Q1 2023 SEC filings, Activision reports that "segment revenue increased 62% year-over-year in the first quarter thanks to the likes of Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch."

After all, WoW Classic is free with your subscription and they already have your gold.

Will this truly effect the Wrath Classic player base? Considering there's at least two major patch updates left to go in the Trial of the Crusader and Icecrown Citadel raids, maybe not. After all, who wouldn't want to walk into Arthas' home and smack the Lich King down while he's in his prime.

And with a pocket full of gold and WoW Tokens to boot.

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