New features are being added to World of Warcraft's Public Test Realm (PTR). In the not-too-distant future, Stormwind and Orgrimmar will each have a Trading Post (opens in new tab) that will be replaced by a rotating collection of unique cosmetic items that players can purchase with the new in-game currency.

Items sold at the Trading Post will consist of "cosmetic transmogs, pets, and mounts" and will not be limited to WoW: they will not be limited to current content from Dragonflight (opens in new tab). This means that you have the chance to get cosmetics that you missed out on in past WoW events and promotions. Fascinatingly, even things that you would normally have to pay real money to purchase can be obtained if they are included in that month's rotation.

If you've been away from WoW for a month and missed out on a cosmetic you really wanted, no worries. Items that leave the Trading Post are not lost forever.

The purchase of such equipment is done with a new currency called Trader's Tender; the first is very simple, just log in and collect 500 tenders each month from the cache at the trading post of your choice. As long as you have an active account, you will receive your monthly allowance on the first of every month.

The second way to earn tenders is by completing new Traveler's Log goals. The Traveler's Log is a list of activities that changes monthly, and by completing them you can earn up to an additional 500 tenders each month; according to Blizzard, many of the activities revolve around completing tasks and participating in events, so "playing the game as you have always playing" will be enough to earn a tender, but there will also be unique and less familiar activities each month.

If you squint, it's like Battle Pass, but one that seems perplexingly careless about squeezing every last drop of your time and money out of you. It seems like a genuinely cool idea, and so far the response from the WoW community has been positive: players on the WoW subreddit (opens in new tab) have already written Christmas lists of old cosmetics they didn't get, and the rotation of trading posts and hope to get them when they get into the trading post rotation.

Blizzard has not said when the Trading Post will appear in the PTR, but we can expect it probably fairly soon. The company also hinted that Trading Post is only the first part of a "challenging new system that will allow players to further personalize their characters."