The new Guardian Cub can be bought for real money from the Pet Store, and then sold in the Auction House for gold. Better than ”black market and account theft.”
The Guardian Cubs are bind-on-equip, not on-pickup, so once bought from the Pet Store they can be traded to other players. This affectively lets you trade real money for World of Warcraft gold, but is of course dependent on the in-game market economy.
”While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we’re OK with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services,” announced Blizzard on the official World of Warcraft website.
”However, please keep in mind that there’s never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they’ll pay for it.”
”Also, it’s important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts.” Blizzard has battled gold-selling groups for years.
”While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that’s preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling black market and account theft,” continued Blizzard.
Will more micro-transactions become a part of WOW’s future? ”It’s too early to say how we’ll handle future Pet Store pets,” added the studio. ”We made this change in response to feedback from players looking for alternate ways to get the Pet Store pets, and we’re always looking into other opportunities for improvement.”
”We’re interested in hearing what players think of the Guardian Cub when it launches, and we hope you’ll have fun with this new flying friend.”
The Guardian Cub is a small and unbelievably adorable version of the Winged Guardian mount. It’s got a flaming mane and tail and costs $10. It’ll be a while before the in-game market stabilises and finds an average price for the ‘gold-selling’ pet.
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