WoW Forever beta reveals a black market goblin selling a 15-day speed buff for 150 gold

World of Warcraft: Forever is still in beta, but players are already exploring a good chunk of Azeroth in search of the secrets Blizzard has prepared for the full release.

Some finds are already known, like a series of hidden books that reward players with powerful leveling items. Other secrets hint at what awaits after the November launch, and many items have no obvious use yet, though they could become very valuable over time.

Players recently discovered an NPC in the new Riverglades zone who sells a set of expensive crafting materials. In theory, these items can be obtained through regular play. Still, many WoW: Forever players suspect the merchant exists to keep auction house prices from skyrocketing due to the scarcity of goods.

Mister Graphed, a goblin black market merchant, sells items starting at 20 gold. That is a hefty sum for the Classic-era economy, and it also sets a price ceiling, so players have no reason to overpay other players.

Resellers will most likely stick around, since many people are willing to pay a markup to skip the trip across the world themselves. Even so, the fixed NPC price should keep costs from climbing to absurd levels.

Mister Graphed also stocks new crafting materials:

• Fel Crystal

• Stranglevine

Blizzard has significantly reworked professions in WoW: Forever, making them far more useful while leveling. A PC Gamer journalist said he managed to craft a solid set of gear well before reaching the beta level cap of 20.

The new materials point to rare craftable items that never existed in earlier versions of the MMO. What exactly can be made from them is still unknown.

One item the goblin sells has nothing to do with crafting. The Gift of Galloping costs 150 gold and, according to its description, boosts mounted movement speed by 10% for 15 days.

Classic World of Warcraft never had anything like it. Wealthy players can essentially pay an in-game "subscription" to get around the world a bit faster.

Blizzard appears to be building WoW: Forever as a game that won't move on to new expansions. The level cap will stay at 60 permanently, so the developers will have to come up with reasons for players to keep playing their current characters or start new ones.

That approach calls for careful attention to the economy. Mechanisms like the black market merchant should keep prices under control as players grow stronger and the game's mysteries get solved.