Blizzard May Be Turning WoW’s Trading Post Into An MTX Shop, Suggests New Datamine

World of Warcraft’s popular Trading Post feature may be turned into a microtransaction store where players can earn cosmetics by purchasing a currency with real money, according to a new datamine.

Blizzard introduced the Trading Post into WoW back in February as a new way for players to earn cosmetics and mounts simply by playing the game. Simply logging in once a month earns players a certain amount of a special currency, called Trader’s Tenders, which can be used at the Trading Post to purchase weapon appearances, cloaks, toys, pets, mounts, and more. Each month, Blizzard adds new challenges players can complete to earn even more Trader’s Tender. The wares of the Trading Post change each month.

Players have taken well to the Trading Post, as it gives a new way to earn cosmetics and rewards without having to spend real money. Part of the appeal of the feature is that some premium items that were formerly exclusive to the game’s microtransaction shop would occasionally be available for purchase with Trader’s Tenders, giving players who didn’t want to spend real money a way to earn the cosmetics for free through the Trading Post.

Flash forward five months, and it certainly seems like Blizzard is looking to turn the Trading Post into another real-money microtransaction store. A datamine of the game’s upcoming patch 10.1.5 update by Wowhead has uncovered in-game shop assets for Trader’s Tenders in varying amounts. The implication is that these would be made available for purchase on Battle.net, effectively turning Trader’s Tenders into a premium currency players can simply buy with real money.

Judging from comments on Twitter and Wowhead, it’s a move that most players don’t seem surprised by, even if they are disappointed. The appeal of the Trading Post was that its items had to be earned by playing the game, whether it be completing various seasonal challenges, participating in PvP, or conquering dungeons and raids. Being able to simply buy everything from the Trading Post with real money seems to defeat the point of the new system.

Players often didn’t have enough Trader’s Tenders to purchase everything available on the Trading Post in a given month, but do have the option to “freeze” one item a month. The item selected will then be available the next month after the Trading Post’s wares change. Though most players don’t seem thrilled with the idea of being able to buy Trader’s Tenders outright, there are some who see it as a solution to the problem of being unable to acquire everything from the Trading Post for the month in one go. Assuming Trader’s Tenders do become available for purchase with real money, players looking to complete their collections after having already earned all available Trader’s Tenders through gameplay can simply insert their credit card to gain the amount needed to acquire everything from the Trading Post for the month.

Blizzard has not officially confirmed whether or not it will begin selling Trader’s Tenders, but it certainly seems like the writing is on the wall. Though the in-game shop assets were datamined from a public test realm build of the game’s upcoming Fractures in Time update, that doesn’t necessarily mean the feature will arrive with that patch. Blizzard has gone on record to say that certain features datamined by players on the PTR may still need more development time, and just because something is found in the files doesn’t mean it’s coming in the next patch. Fractures in Time doesn’t yet have a release date but is expected to arrive this summer.

It’s not the first time recently that Blizzard has upset the WoW playerbase by adding microtransactions. Last month, Blizzard introduced the controversial WoW Token into Wrath of the Lich King Classic without warning, a move that did not go over well with the game’s community.