Quote Originally Posted by Rymm View Post
But the token must still initially be purchased for real money. The person who ends up with the item may pay with gold but Blizzard still gets the exact same amount of real money from the transaction, making them no less "greedy" than FFXIV's shop.

Edit:
In fact, upon reviewing the WoW store again, it might actually be worse, given that you are stuck with purchasing one static amount; an amount that in their entire store, only evenly matches up with two things (a month of game or an appearance change.) Nothing else is $15, which makes it difficult to make one-time purchases- you are always going to have to buy more Blizzard balance than you actually need. Forcing you to purchase their currency at certain set amounts that don't easily line up with the item prices is a method that several games use as an under-handed means to get you to spend more.
The WoW system found a way to accommodate both those willing and unwilling to spend real money, with the added bonus of reducing third-party RMT activity in the process. Greed or no, it's a clever system that almost certainly makes them more money in the long-run, all the while placating players like the OP. If someone wants to spend money, they can. Otherwise, there's an alternative route to the same content for people willing to do a little extra grinding, and blizzard still gets their take. They can even play the game completely on someone else's dime. It's a much more accommodating system, and is a more reasonable format for a subscription based MMO imo.