World of Warcraft News: In-Game Store Confirmed By Blizzard

The most populous and one of the longest running MMO's of all time will be getting an in-game store, which may pave the way for microtransactions to be introduced into the game. A community manager for the game, Bashiok, gave some details about the in-game store on the game's official website, saying that it will merely be a more convenient way for users to buy items that are already available in the Blizzard Cash Shop:

"For players who are already interested in the in-game items we offer, such as Pet Store pets and mounts, the benefits of an in-game store are pretty clear. We think everyone would appreciate the convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game, and ultimately that's our long-term goal for the system, though there's quite a bit of work involved in retrofitting those existing items into the new system."

While it does not look like there will be many microtransactions items for sale, there will be at least one available whenever this store would go live. A Lesser Charms of Good Fortune will be offered, which will allow players to get extra chances to get gear from a raid mission. However, this item and the store will first be coming to other markets as a test run, as Bashiok explains:

"First, we'll be testing the in-game store with some new kinds of items we're looking into introducing (in Asian regions, at the outset) based on player feedback: specifically, an experience buff to assist with the leveling process, as well as an alternate way to acquire Lesser Charms of Good Fortune. We've had a lot of requests from players in different regions for convenience-oriented items such as these, and as with other new ideas we've introduced as WoW has evolved-including Pet Store pets, mounts, and more-your feedback plays a hugely important part in determining what we add to the game."

World of Warcraft is one of the few MMO's to keep the subscription model, so it will be interesting to see if the game goes free to play, but adds microtransactions to make up for lost revenue.