World of Warcraft has surprised its fans when it introduced the Trading Post, and due to the Public Test Realm hosting the new patch, the community has a much clearer picture of how it works and how players can earn its unique currency. Though the launch of Dragonflight had its performance issues, the latest expansion has steadily established itself as the perfect change in direction that World of Warcraft sorely needed after the shortcomings of Shadowlands and Battle for Azeroth.
As Season 1 of Dragonflight continues apace, and the race to World First for Raszageth is nearing its end with Echo and Liquid in front, Blizzard has confidently laid out the content roadmap for World of Warcraft in 2023, promising two major game updates, and six content patches in total. The first among them is slated for Winter, and will feature the Trading Post as its main attraction.
Discovered by Wowhead on the PTR, the idea behind the Trading Post is simple: by staying subscribed, World of Warcraft players can complete certain activities tracked on the new Adventure Journal tab called the Traveler's Log. Each completed task will increase progress within the Traveler's Log for a small percentage, and each 20% threshold will award players with 100 Trader's Tender (up to a 500 monthly cap). Players will be able to spend this currency with the new vendors in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, and the offered items range from exclusive Trading Post outfits, to premium-quality mounts and pets.
An example of a Traveler's Log activity would be completing five dungeons while in a cross-faction group, and finishing this activity would seemingly give 15% monthly progress. The amazing thing about the Traveler's Log in World of Warcraft is that it's also designed to give players an exclusive reward for reaching 100% on its progress track (in addition to getting 500 Trader's Tender). Though there is no guarantee it will make it to the live servers, the current reward on the Public Test Realm seems to be the Ash'adar, Harbinger of Dawn mount.
The Traveler's Log is eerily reminiscent of the Challenge Log in Final Fantasy 14, and the Battle Pass nature of the Trading Post seems to take inspiration from The Elder Scrolls Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic by awarding players with premium currency for being subscribed. These similarities are by no means a negative thing, as the success of one MMO benefits the success of all MMOs, and Blizzard Entertainment is wise to consider what its competitors are doing. After all, players are obsessed with Dragonriding in Dragonflight just as much Guild Wars 2 players were obsessed when Path of Fire introduced its dynamic mount system.
By reducing the amount of dailies and introducing activities, it seems that Blizzard is keen to keep players engage in healthier ways compared to the mind-numbing Covenant grind in Shadowlands. A change that will be easily welcomed by most World of Warcraft fans when Patch 10.0.5 finally launches.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.
Source: Wowhead