Did banning GDKP runs in World of Warcraft Classic really achieve anything? The developers reveal their thoughts on this.
The Season of Discovery is currently underway in World of Warcraft Classic. The developers are not only bringing new content that has never been available in the classic version of the game before, but are also implementing new guidelines. The ban on GDKP runs was quite controversial, but was intended to help restrict illegal gold purchases.
The developers have now spoken about their first impressions of the regulation and see many positive influences.
Where does the information come from? Dexerto magazine spoke to Senior Game Producer Josh Greenfield and Lead Software Engineer Nora Valetta, both of whom are responsible for Season of Discovery. It covered many topics, but above all the enforcement of the GDKP ban.
What is GDKP actually? “GDKP” is the name given to a system according to which loot is awarded in raids or dungeons. Instead of simply rolling the dice on an item and letting chance decide, those interested bid on the item with gold. The buyer with the highest offer receives the item. After the raid, the gold collected is then distributed among all members of the group. Rich players get items while everyone else gets gold.
What was said? Greenfield is “cautiously optimistic.” Although it is too early to have really solid data and therefore to draw conclusions about a long-term effect, the first impression was quite positive.
My first observation while playing is that I see significantly fewer ads [auf den Realms] notice. This has given us the opportunity to take stronger action against such things. Not just selling gold, but also botting.
Basically, GDKP is not only a way of distributing loot, but also a method of “laundering” gold. Because large amounts of illegal gold change hands through these purchases and thus become virtually legal. This also makes it increasingly difficult to track the path of gold.
GDKP is an excellent method to launder money and an excellent method to conceal the path of gold. Without that kind of shield, it makes it a lot easier for us to clean up other things and be a little bit more steadfast in other aspects of the economy.
The developers did not miss the fact that there was loud criticism of the abolition of the system at the beginning. Many found GDKP to be a solid method of distributing loot. Many also took part in these raids to earn gold legally – regardless of where it originally came from.
At the very beginning there was a huge outcry in the community over the decision when it came into force. Now I no longer see it as such a hot topic. It’s almost as if people said to themselves, “Okay, GDKP is banned in the Season of Discovery.” I guess that’s life.” And then they just put it behind them. We see [jetzt] there was no longer a big outcry from people who were unhappy about it.
However, the developers are also clear that this is only a snapshot. After all, the long-term consequences cannot really be foreseen, even if the trend appears to be positive.
I think it is clear that it is still too early to draw a conclusion here. So far it looks like the change is positive. What I say is of course purely anecdotal and not yet supported by data.
Whether the change can actually have a long-term, noticeable effect on the game – and therefore perhaps serve as a precedent for other WoW versions – remains to be seen.
Another circumstance currently shows that the ban on GDKP runs can only be part of the solution to the problem. Because Stormwind is flooded with bots – there are more of them than real characters.