So if you take a look at  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24261190531&sid=1 you can see that along with a Lil' X-T, Blizzard has decided to sell a celestial steed mount which is a both ground and flying mount that can go up to 310% speed (depending on if you have another mount with that speed) for 25 dollars.
 
From what you'd learn if you just read the official forums, this is the downfall for WoW as we know it, and we'll soon be buying gear for dollars. That is simply not true though, Blizzard would never make you pay for things in game that could actually give you a boost over other players in the game. No vanity pet you buy at the store gives you an advantage (although the panda is kickass!) and the mount is restricted by what you have already earned. If you don't have epic flying, then it will only go at the 150% speed for normal flying, etc.
 
Other then the doomsday crowd, people are also crying out that this mount should be special, like it dropping from Lich King Hard Mode 25-man. I ask why it should be so rare? Why should the Celestial Steed end up like Ashes of A'lar, Mimiron's Head, Black Scarab and the Crimson Deathcharger from Shadowmourne, with only a small minority ever getting one of these cool mounts. Why can't the more casual players of WoW, or the ones with the worst luck, have a cool looking mount for once, (and I'm not casual, as you can see, I already have the sick Frostwyrm).
 
Of course we worry for the day that Blizzard charges for game impacting items, but I doubt that day will ever come. Nothing they have done so far gives a player an advantage over another, and as they have stated before, it will continue to be that way.

So if you take a look at  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24261190531&sid=1 you can see that along with a Lil' X-T, Blizzard has decided to sell a celestial steed mount which is a both ground and flying mount that can go up to 310% speed (depending on if you have another mount with that speed) for 25 dollars.
 
From what you'd learn if you just read the official forums, this is the downfall for WoW as we know it, and we'll soon be buying gear for dollars. That is simply not true though, Blizzard would never make you pay for things in game that could actually give you a boost over other players in the game. No vanity pet you buy at the store gives you an advantage (although the panda is kickass!) and the mount is restricted by what you have already earned. If you don't have epic flying, then it will only go at the 150% speed for normal flying, etc.
 
Other then the doomsday crowd, people are also crying out that this mount should be special, like it dropping from Lich King Hard Mode 25-man. I ask why it should be so rare? Why should the Celestial Steed end up like Ashes of A'lar, Mimiron's Head, Black Scarab and the Crimson Deathcharger from Shadowmourne, with only a small minority ever getting one of these cool mounts. Why can't the more casual players of WoW, or the ones with the worst luck, have a cool looking mount for once, (and I'm not casual, as you can see, I already have the sick Frostwyrm).
 
Of course we worry for the day that Blizzard charges for game impacting items, but I doubt that day will ever come. Nothing they have done so far gives a player an advantage over another, and as they have stated before, it will continue to be that way.

Business wise this makes complete sense. WoW has something in the region of ten million people actively playing. If only 1% of people buy this, boom, instant $2.5m revenue. Considering the queue is at the 80k mark I'd say they're not far off that target either. God knows how much cash they'd rake in if they straight up sold Spectral Tigers. Also, with the Starcraft II Collectors Edition containing DLC portraits and unique unit art you can bet they'll be exploiting that when it ships as well. And Diablo III. 
 
From a consumer point, why not I guess? It's not like people buying aesthetic stuff changes the game in the slightest, it's extra income for Blizz and people who buy it get their shiny pixels. Seems like a winner for all sides.

That's kind of a bummer. I hope they don't continue down this path, but even this itself is a little sucky. Ah well, if they can sucker people into it, more power to 'em.

Protip: Those discontinued raid mounts, weren't earned with luck.  
 
Protip 2: WoW main forums are 90% trolls.  QQing about nothing real.
 
Blizzard has been selling shiny digital wares for a long while now.  Trading card mounts and the RAF mount.  If you like Blizzard why don't you want them to do well?  You don't want more expansions, more worlds, more games?  

I'm pretty sure that Blizzard's actions on this are breaking one of the commandments.

I think anything in game should be earned in game and anything like trading cards/figurines should be bought outside of the game.

Your attitude of "why can't the casual have the cool mount"
And Blizzards apparent agreement with that sentiment WILL be the downfall of WoW, The reason casuals don't get the "cool" stuff is because in an MMO it's all about getting the Best / Rarest, And the Best / Rarest can only be had by doing the Hardest parts of the game.
 
By making "cool" stuff available to the casuals, Then the "Hardcore" players will get pissed and move on to something else, And with no "Hardcore" players there will be few good raids, With little to no good raiding happening people will bitch and bitch that things are "to hard" and Blizzard will have no choice but to dumb the game down even more than they have been, Which will make the "Hardcores" who left even less likely to come back, Which will cause WoW to slowly wither and die.
 
FYI:
I used to play WoW (alot) but have not played in about 6 months and have no intention of ever going back.
Though I have thought about it at points....  But if they start selling stuff for real $$$..... Well fuck them and their money grubbing

" Your attitude of "why can't the casual have the cool mount" And Blizzards apparent agreement with that sentiment WILL be the downfall of WoW, The reason casuals don't get the "cool" stuff is because in an MMO it's all about getting the Best / Rarest, And the Best / Rarest can only be had by doing the Hardest parts of the game.  By making "cool" stuff available to the casuals, Then the "Hardcore" players will get pissed and move on to something else, And with no "Hardcore" players there will be few good raids, With little to no good raiding happening people will bitch and bitch that things are "to hard" and Blizzard will have no choice but to dumb the game down even more than they have been, Which will make the "Hardcores" who left even less likely to come back, Which will cause WoW to slowly wither and die.  FYI: I used to play WoW (alot) but have not played in about 6 months and have no intention of ever going back. Though I have thought about it at points....  But if they start selling stuff for real $$$..... Well fuck them and their money grubbing "

 I've never liked the idea of paying for in game items ever since Double Dragon 3 wanted me to buy extra moves with more quarters.

I am fundamentally against this, of coarse, as someone who is still playing WoW, and has been off and on since Classic WoW. It sucks, and I'm in the camp of people who think that WoW was a  better game a few years ago. However, I don't claim that WoW is ruined, I've been enjoying a lot of additions to WoW that I think should have been in the original game, such as the automatic cross-server dungeon finder. (By the way, Dos Equis is a quality beer.)

If it were purely cosmetic that'd be fine, but if it's faster than other people's mounts then that's a little lame. Not that flying mounts ever contribute to competitive play much (unless I'm out of the loop when it comes to things like Wintergrasp), but still.

They have been selling loot cards with special mounts on them for years. 
 
Edit:  @Bigandtasty said: 

" If it were purely cosmetic that'd be fine, but if it's faster than other people's mounts then that's a little lame. Not that flying mounts ever contribute to competitive play much (unless I'm out of the loop when it comes to things like Wintergrasp), but still. "

" They have been selling loot cards with special mounts on them for years. "

I think old schoolers have a right to feel slightly betrayed due to the fact that Blizzard made multiple claims never to venture into the murky realm of micro-transactions. Considering they have now done-so, naturally many are going to be worried that the next step is to start selling items that DO give a player an edge in combat or raiding. Sure these might be unsubstantiated doomsday fears, but you're talking about a generation of people whose 10 Commandments have been replaced with catchphrases like "Trust no one" and "There is no spoon". 
 
I do agree that it'll be nice to see more people have the fancier mounts, and I'll be perfectly honest -- I bought those stupid WoW trading cards just for the in-game item cards, so being able to buy such items directly is certainly cheaper and not insanely luck-based. But still, I can't blame those who harbor worries of worse things to come down the road (Tauren Paladins... Really? Ugggg). 
 
PS: Welcome to GB :)

logged in today and saw many people with those gay horses....  I don't mind these kind of things in game as long as it's not like weapons and extra dungeons you need to pay for if it's not a major expansion.  Because that's what my monthly fee should be paying for.

" Your attitude of "why can't the casual have the cool mount" And Blizzards apparent agreement with that sentiment WILL be the downfall of WoW, The reason casuals don't get the "cool" stuff is because in an MMO it's all about getting the Best / Rarest, And the Best / Rarest can only be had by doing the Hardest parts of the game.  By making "cool" stuff available to the casuals, Then the "Hardcore" players will get pissed and move on to something else, And with no "Hardcore" players there will be few good raids, With little to no good raiding happening people will bitch and bitch that things are "to hard" and Blizzard will have no choice but to dumb the game down even more than they have been, Which will make the "Hardcores" who left even less likely to come back, Which will cause WoW to slowly wither and die.  FYI: I used to play WoW (alot) but have not played in about 6 months and have no intention of ever going back. Though I have thought about it at points....  But if they start selling stuff for real $$$..... Well fuck them and their money grubbing "

You sound like a Blizzard apologist.  
 
I don't think this spells the doom and gloom of WoW, but it's a dark path to tread down and I don't like it at all.

If the $25 went to charity like...RSPCA (or the american equivalent of it, SPCA?) I would buy it. 
 
Raiders always say Time put in = Rewards but I could probably play more hours a week then a raider but not get any shiney purples. I don't believe raids are hard, sure at first you may encounter trouble but after a few times and a quick google for a strat it should be all good.

You have this backwards. Other major mmo's have allways catered to the hardcore and that is why none have them have ever made the sort of money that Wow has. There are so few elitist hardcore raiders compared to the mass of people who just level solo or do 5 mans. If all of the elite players left they would hardly be missed. The worst thing wow could do is to make it difficult for normal people (who dont want to spend 20 hours a week raiding) to get nice gear. What makes you think that putting a brick wall of difficulty between players and gear will result in happy customers?  That being said i think selling mounts is a bad precedent. "

Say what you will about Blizzard, but they're not idiots.They know their customers. These are the people who still provide support for Starcraft and Warcraft 3 because their players demand it. They constantly make changes to WoW because of player feedback. And they can charge for a mount because they know people want it and WILL buy it. I don't think they would ever charge for items that give an unfair advantage in-game. They recognize their limits.
 
You don't make an MMO based off of a strategy game series, dethrone Everquest, and then remain unchallenged and unfazed without knowing what to do and what not to do.

25 dollars!! HOLY SHIT!!

They'll never sell gear if they're smart. Mounts however, are perfect for micro transactions. They're worth a lot to players and don't give anyone a specific edge over the rest of the player base.

I don't see how this is a problem. The mount is available for anyone willing to spend $25. Don't want to spend $25? Fine, don't. There's no real benefit to having this mount other than to say that it looks cool or that not a lot of people have it. This is very different to Blizzard selling ingame items that are more powerful than the ones obtained through playing the game.
 
As long as it's voluntary there's nothing to complain about.

" I'm pretty sure that Blizzard's actions on this are breaking one of the commandments. "