WoW features a very well-implemented postal system that allows you to easily contact people who are not currently in-game, and transfer equipment to them.

Most towns have an Inn somewhere. These Inns become a very important place for you as you adventure. You can get a Hearth Stone which will teleport you back to your current “home” Inn, and resting at an Inn is twice as fast as normal resting. Plus, outside every Inn is a mailbox.

Sending a letter to another character is very easy…you just right-click on a mailbox, and then start composing your message. In addition to simply writing a letter to someone, you can enclose money, or an item. All of this is done for only 30 copper – a sum that most people can afford to spend by about level 5 or 6.

Sending a simple text letter is nearly instantaneous. It will be available for the recipient to read within minutes. Sending items, however, takes a little bit longer – Blizzard claims it may take as long as an hour, though my items have always appeared much sooner than that. You can leave letters (and their attachments) in your mailbox for about 30 days before they get automatically deleted (there is a very visible count-down showing how much longer you’ve got). However, you can also grab a copy of the letter to carry around in your inventory, and that copy will never be automatically deleted.

The postal system is great for crafters. Anyone who’s ever tried to get a full suit of armor made in DAoC knows how difficult it can be to track down a crafter who is currently taking orders, wait for them to finish, and then meet them for payment. With the postal system in WoW crafters can take an order and work on it at their convenience, and then simply mail the completed armor to you COD. That’s right, items can be sent Cash On Delivery. In order to read that letter and remove the items you need to pay a sum specified by the sender.

Additionally, the postal system makes it very easy to transfer money and equipment from one character to another. You can easily mail a few silver to a new character to help them get started. Or, if a really nice piece of equipment drops, just mail it to someone who can use it. No more finding people to hold items for you while you juggle characters.

Posted on July 22 at 2:32 PM