World of Warcraft's $90 Mount Controversy Explained

World of Warcraft: The War Within has celebrated the game's 20th anniversary with a host of special events. On top of all the in-game fanfare, the store has introduced some brand new cosmetic goodies to accompany the festivities. One such newcomer is the Trader's Gilded Brutosaur, a huge sauropod that celebrates every previous expansion.

Although store fixtures are a long-standing staple at this point, the black brutosaur angered many of World of Warcrafts player. There is a whole world of context for this dinosaur that is not immediately apparent, and the repercussions of its arrival have been felt far and wide. To understand this mount's impact on the game, one has to travel back in time, about five years ago.

The battle for Azeroth's Brutosaur was a literal game changer

Battle for Azeroth was the current expansion, featuring a new continent full of prehistoric reptiles. Players struggled to collect dozens of new mounts, many of which were dinosaurs. Two types of dinosaurs were not made into mounts, namely the Devilsaur (basically a T. Rex) and the Brutosaurus, simply because they were too big. But everything changed when the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur appeared.

This green sauropod, affectionately known to the community as “Long Boi”, was one of a kind. By far the largest stronghold in the game, it also came with two NPCs. Other mounts like Grand Expedition Yak and Traveler's Tundra Mammoth had simple repair or transmog vendors, but Caravan Brutosaur had an auction house NPC attached, something never seen before.

An auction house bracket is worth its weight in gold

Having access to the auction house on demand gave players an incredible advantage. Those constantly working auctions for marginal profits could now park their dinosaur next to a mailbox and sell or bid for whatever they wanted. Speed ​​is everything in such a fast economy, especially since the auction house is shared between all servers.

In addition to this, raiders can quickly buy Wow items they need in the middle of the action, eliminating long trips to the capitals. This shaves minutes off competitive raiders' times, giving them a distinct advantage. The new $90 bracket took it even further, providing its own mailbox and eliminating the need for mailbox toys and pets.

Players had to grind the gold or miss out entirely

The Mighty Caravan Brutosaur cost players 5 million gold in Battle for Azeroth, and when the pre-patch for the next expansion arrived, this dinosaur mount became impossible to obtain. If that in-game gold is transferred from WoW Tokens (which go for $20 each), it went for around $500 in BFA, a princely sum to be sure. Now the only way to get it is at the Black Market Auction House, and when it appears there it goes for 10 million, the current gold cap.

Why WoW's new Brutosaur has fired up the playerbase

The Trader's Caravan Brutosaur costs $90, which, as players quickly noticed, is an absolute steal compared to its predecessor. When converted to tokens, it becomes about a million gold, or at least it did for a short time. Players quickly caught on to this loophole, and the price of WoW tokens has skyrocketed, likely to increase even more as players scramble to get their hands on such a useful mount.

Having WoW Tokens increase in price so drastically will have a huge effect on the game as a whole. A significant number of players pay for theirs World of Warcraft subscriptions that use in-game gold to purchase tokens. A single token redeems a month of playtime, and players who can't already afford a subscription will feel a huge squeeze as the gold price of the Token swells.

World of Warcrafts economy is heavily dependent on the WoW token, as its ebb and flow can affect the prices of all auction house items. It's hard to imagine that a simple assembly could have such an effect on the game, but demand for tokens has far outstripped supply, leaving players in a chaotic race to save what they can.