wow-battle-pass

Ever wanted a WoW Battle Pass? The Trading Post fills that need for free and is full of premium skins.

Like a hero astride their drake, Blizzard is riding high on the positive reception of Dragonflight. And as if to double-down on the hype, the developer has just released an extremely popular new feature that essentially amounts to a free WoW Battle Pass: the Trading Post.

Battle Passes are pretty standard additions to live service games these days. And for a company that doesn't have a great track record for not rinsing every ounce of gold out of their audience, it's pretty surprising that we don't already have a WoW battle pass. But in a stellar show of Christmas cheer, the Trading Post essentially fills that void without asking for a single penny from the players. Perhaps three ghosts have paid Blizzard HQ a visit.

T&W (Tawny and Wilder) and Zen'shiri Trading Posts are setting up shop in the capital cities of Stormwind and Orgrimmar. Their wares comprise a selection of cosmetics, mounts, and pets including many that can be purchased from the in-game store and some originating from now-inactive promotions of yesteryear.

To "buy" these items, players must spend Trader's Tender. Players can redeem this unique currency as part of a monthly stipend of 500, or by completing a series of monthly activities within the Traveler's Log, which can net them up to another 500.

These mostly consist of pretty run-of-the-mill activities that players will find themselves completing just by playing as normal. But there is also a rotation of uniquely designed activities for the month for players to take on.

Claiming the monthly installment of Trader's Tender will require an account of 'good standing', meaning players must have active game time and a subscription on the first day of the month.

The Trading Posts' inventories will also change on a monthly basis, though old items that have been pushed out one month will certainly return during another.

Blizzard stated that "this is just the start of what we hope will be a rewarding new system for players to further personalize their character and experiences within World of Warcraft." Meaning there's more drip-enhancing features where that came from. We can't wait to see what else is in store.