Blizzard is about to introduce a vanity pet—the Guardian Cub companion—that can be traded between players. Unlike other vanity pets and vanity mounts which get bound to the player’s account (allowing them to trade it between their characters; but not other players) this one can be bought and sold on the auction house.
Kyt Dotson at SiliconANGLE believes this may be part of Blizzard’s long-term plan to combat gold farming, but not for long,
Players can only purchase virtual item vanity pets from Blizzard, sending the dollars into the MMO company’s coffers. This move may initially put a dent in the business operations of gold farmers; but after a while the market may become saturated after the hype wears off.
As for why they’re doing this? It’s not just about gold farmers and gold sellers,
Blizzard stands to make a lot of money from this venture.
As a corporation, Blizzard has a nose for where they can leverage the disposable income of their players and this one takes the reigns two-fold. Unlike other non-tradable virtual items, such as the $25 Celestial Steed (the first in-game vanity mount)–which netted the MMO giant almost $4.4 million in the first four hours—the Guardian Cub stands to net Blizzard not just players with enough disposable income for one for each character, but also players who buy extra to sell to those flush with in-game gold.
No kidding.
Link, via SiliconANGLE.
Heh. It’s no sparklepony. Make it a winged baby murloc and we’ll talk.