GoldBound — Zone-Locked WoW Token Challenge Helper (English-only)

GoldBound turns the “Gold-Bound” style challenge into a playable ruleset you can run in retail WoW.
It tracks and enforces the key rules (zone locking, no direct trading, AH buy-blocks, etc.), shows a clean overlay with your progress, and includes a zone guide (rares/chest tips) you can open from a minimap button or via slash commands.

Attribution: The idea and spirit of this challenge are inspired by Pathalerix and their “Gold Bound” content. This addon is a fan-made implementation and not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard.
Authorship: The code was generated and assembled by an AI assistant (GPT-5 Thinking) with your guidance and testing.

What the addon does

Core challenge logic

Zone-lock system: Start the run in your current zone. You’re only allowed to play inside unlocked zones.
Neighbor unlocks by Token: After you buy a WoW Token with gold, the addon marks you eligible to roll a new zone. Rolling selects a neighboring zone from your current allowed set (uses a built-in neighbor/adjacency map), then adds it to your allowed list.
Capitals as city exceptions: Capitals (e.g., Stormwind/Orgrimmar) are handled as children of their parent zones. Access is treated correctly so capitals don’t behave like standalone zones.
Corridor handling: Some travel corridors (e.g., Blackrock Mountain) are permitted only if both connected zones are unlocked.
Violation alert: If you step into a non-allowed zone, you get a clear warning popup.

Guards & rule enforcement

Direct trade blocked: Opening the trade window with players closes immediately.
Auction House buy/bid blocked: You can still sell (list auctions), but can’t buy/bid via the default AH UI.
Player mail send blocked: Sending items/gold to other players via the mailbox UI is disabled (reading is fine).
Summons declined while zone-locked (prevents rule-skipping teleportation).
Pause toggle: Temporarily disable all guards if you must (e.g., emergencies/testing).

Progress overlay (compact and unobtrusive)

Always-visible info frame (movable, resizable via scale):
- Current zone (normalized to the parent zone)
- Allowed zones (comma-separated)
- Your gold (with coin icons)
- Tokens bought (count)
- Roll ready (yes/no)
- Live WoW Token price (via API)
Font size & UI scale adjustable in options.

Zone Guide (with database)

A zone guide window with:
- Farming notes
- Notable rares
- Common chest hints
Guide database (GoldBoundGuideDB) stored as SavedVariables:
- Ships with curated entries for many starter/leveling zones.
- Includes a generic fallback for all neighbors in the adjacency graph.
- You can extend or tweak your own guide entries without editing the addon files.

Minimap button

Uses the bundled GoldBound icon, sits outside the minimap ring, and is draggable.
Left-click: Open Guide (for your current zone).
Right-click: Toggle the overlay.
Shift+Left-click: Open options.

Options & QoL

Options panel (Interface → AddOns or /gb options):
- Font size
- UI scale
- Pause challenge
Export (/gb export): Copy your status in one line (allowed zones, token price, current zone, tokens bought).
Auto-detects your current zone; sub-zones/starting areas auto-normalize to the real parent zone.

How rolling & token detection works

The addon watches your gold changes and the live token market price.
If your gold drops around the current token price (within a safe margin), the addon counts it as a token purchased and flags Roll Ready.
Use /gb roll to unlock a random neighboring zone (based on the adjacency database).

Slash commands

/gb start or /gb — start the challenge in your current zone
/gb reset — reset progress and start over
/gb roll — unlock a random neighboring zone (when roll-ready)
/gb show / /gb hide — show/hide the overlay
/gb price — refresh token price
/gb guide [optional zone name/id] — open the zone guide (auto-detects current zone if omitted)
/gb font <10–24> — set overlay font size
/gb scale <0.8–1.4> — set overlay scale
/gb options — open options panel
/gb export — copy a shareable progress line
/gb pause — toggle guards on/off

Technical notes

Game version: Retail 11.2.0 (Interface 110200).
SavedVariables: GoldBoundDB, GoldBoundGuideDB.
Files of interest:
- Zones.lua — adjacency graph, city exceptions, corridors, normalization helpers
- Core.lua — event handling, token/roll logic, slash commands
- Guards.lua — trade/AH/mail/summon restrictions
- UI.lua — overlay
- GuideDB.lua — guide database defaults + SavedVariables init
- Guide_UI.lua — guide window renderer
- Options.lua — settings UI
- Minimap.lua — minimap button logic
- Export_UI.lua — export window

Credits & attribution

Concept & inspiration: Pathalerix — Thank you for the awesome “Gold Bound” idea and content that motivated this addon.
Code author: GPT-5 Thinking (AI), built collaboratively with your feedback, testing, and direction.
Not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft® and related trademarks are property of Blizzard.

GoldBound Addon