Every World of Warcraft player will soon be able to get their hands on one of the rarest and most expensive mounts in the game’s history, and fans who already have it are angry. The Feldrake mount, previously only obtainable via World of Warcraft's Trading Card Game, will be offered as a Twitch drop coinciding with the release of Dragonflight.The Feldrake is one of several mounts that can only be acquired by redeeming a code from the corresponding TCG card. As the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game went out of print in 2013, obtaining the Feldrake mount is nearly impossible without buying it online for about $3000. When converted to WoW tokens, that would be about 30,000,000 gold, six times as much as the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur. However, the Feldrake is about to become a lot less rare. By watching four hours of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight on Twitch between November 28 and December 1, players can earn the mount for their account. As one might expect, many players who were lucky enough to have gotten the mount 10 years ago aren’t happy, and those who shelled out thousands of dollars more recently are infuriated.
Giving out the Feldrake mount for free was a risky move for World of Warcraft. As one of the rarest mounts in World of Warcraft, making the Feldrake a free reward robs many players of the exclusivity and bragging rights of owning the rare collectible. Some outraged players have gone so far as to quit the game over what they perceive as a slap in the face.
On the other hand, giving out the Feldrake for free might be the best decision World of Warcraft has ever made. With the TCG fully out of print, the vast majority of players would simply not be able to ever get the mount. The Feldrake is not as pretty as new mounts by any means, but it is still cool enough that many players would love to use it. Considering how frequently World of Warcraft relies on limited-time offers and FOMO to keep players around, many players think opportunities like this are amazing, even many who already have the Feldrake mount.
Regardless, World of Warcraft has opened a Pandora’s Box by giving away the Feldrake. With this as a precedent, all the old TCG-exclusives could eventually see a return to the game. Perhaps in time, players will be able to more easily acquire the Spectral Tiger, Amani Dragonhawk, or any number of other rare World of Warcraft mounts.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. Dragonflight launches on November 28.