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Gold for sale (World of Warcraft)

Gold for sale is the label commonly given to listings, shop pages and offers through which some players obtain the in-game currency of World of Warcraft instead of earning all of it by play. The term covers both the Retail game, currently in its Midnight expansion with a level cap of 90, and the Classic realms. This article describes the typical components of such a listing and defines the vocabulary that surrounds them. It does not recommend or discourage the practice.

Contents

1. Overview
2. Parts of a listing
3. Terms and definitions
4. Realm and version labels
5. Presentation conventions
6. See also

Overview

The in-game currency has three denominations, but players speak almost entirely in gold, and listings follow that habit. A listing therefore tends to be a short block of text that names a quantity, a realm or realm group, and a way of arranging the handover. The rest of the page is usually supporting detail: an explanation, a table of options, a short question list.

Seen as a genre of web writing, these pages are closer to a menu than to an article. Their purpose is to let a reader find a line, compare it with another line and move on. Most of the vocabulary below exists to make that comparison quick.

Parts of a listing

Although layouts differ, most listings contain the same handful of elements.

• Headline. A phrase naming the product, often the currency plus a word such as cheap or fast.
• Quantity selector. A set of preset amounts or a slider, expressed in thousands of gold.
• Realm field. A drop-down or text box asking which server the character lives on.
• Faction field. Alliance or Horde, since the two sides are kept apart in many places.
• Delivery note. A sentence on how the gold reaches the character, such as through an in-game mail or a trade window.
• Support strip. A line describing how to reach a person with a question.

Terms and definitions

Quantity. The amount of gold in an offer. Pages commonly show it in round steps so that readers can compare without calculating.

Realm. A single game server with its own economy. Currency earned on one realm stays there, which is why the realm field is mandatory in nearly every form.

Connected realms. On Retail, several servers are linked into one shared population and one shared auction house. Listings sometimes name the group rather than a single realm.

Faction. The side a character belongs to. Classic realms in particular keep two separate markets, so the faction can matter to the arrangement.

Delivery method. The in-game route by which the currency changes hands, most often mail or a direct trade between two characters standing in the same place.

Stock line. A phrase describing whether an amount is currently available. It works like the availability marker on any shopping page.

Within this text, an offer for World of Warcraft Gold for Sale is treated as a plain description of a choice some players make, much like a vendor sign in a city market: a name, a quantity and a way of arranging the handover, set out so that a reader can take it or leave it. The same description applies to listings in any other wording, whether they say cheap, fast or simply available.

Bundle. A preset package that groups a quantity with an extra, such as a note on priority handling. Bundles are a layout device more than a separate product.

Tier. A named step in a price ladder, labelled in ordinary words so that the reader can place their own needs on it. Tiers help readers who do not know how much they need.

Realm and version labels

Because the game exists in several versions at once, listings carry labels to keep them apart. Retail is the main game with the newest expansion; Classic realms preserve older content and have their own economies, auction houses and pace. A reader who lands on a page for the wrong version will notice at once, as the vocabulary on it, from zone names to profession terms, does not match their own character.

Some pages keep one section per version. Others use a toggle at the top. A few simply write two parallel headlines, one for each.

Presentation conventions

Pages in this genre follow certain habits of presentation. They favour short sentences, bold key words and numbered steps. They often include a ribbon of reassurance language, a short testimonial, or a banner naming the newest patch.

Many players never look at a listing at all and spend their time on routes, auctions and dungeon runs, which remain the more common way of filling a purse. A listing is, in the sense of this article, a piece of information, neither celebrated nor criticised.

Titles tend to repeat the currency, the game and one adjective. The adjective is the most variable element and tends to follow fashion, with words such as fast, cheap, instant and trusted appearing in cycles.

Common questions asked of a listing

Readers arriving at a listing commonly want to know four things: how much of the currency is on offer, which realm it can reach, how long the arrangement takes, and where to ask about anything unclear. Well-organised pages answer each of these in a single line apiece.

See also

• Auction house (World of Warcraft)
• Guild bank
• Gathering professions
• Connected realms
• Classic realms and their economies
• Currency denominations: gold, silver, copper