WoW Tokens will let you pay for World of Warcraft with in-game gold

Looking to find a way to combat third-party gold selling (or perhaps the initial steps of going free-to-play), Blizzard is offering World of Warcraft players an alternative way to pay for their subscription to the long-standing MMORPG. Introduced today, the new WoW Token is an in-game item that allows you to simply and securely exchange gold and game time between each other, similar to what Carbine offered with WildStar.

"Players will be able to purchase a WoW Token through the in-game Shop for real money, and then sell it on the Auction House for gold at the current market price. When a player buys a WoW Token from the Auction House for gold, the Token becomes Soulbound, and the player can then redeem it for 30 days of game time," Blizzard explained.

In a similar design to WildStar, players will be able to buy WoW Tokens for real money through the in-game Shop, accessed through a button near your character's bags. If you don't mind paying for subscription time, but need gold you'll be able to sell WoW Tokens through a dedicated Token exchange in the Auction House. The gold value will be determined dynamically based on supply and demand.

"When you put a Token up for sale, you’ll be quoted the amount of gold you’ll receive upon a successful sale. If you then decide to place the Token up for sale, that amount is locked in, and the gold will be sent to your mailbox after another player purchases your Token," Blizzard explained in a lengthy post on Battle.net which answers a ton of questions you might have about the new system.

While revealed today, the Token will actually makes its debut "in an upcoming patch." In the meantime, feel free to read up on the new system here.