Short answer seems to be “Yes” A bit of datamining by the nuts over at WoWHead turned up an interesting item, the Enduring Elixir of Wisdom. Every F2P gamer out there is vastly familiar with an item of this ilk. The World of Warcraft variety acts no different, increasing mob- and quest-based experience by a hefty 100%.
The recently discovered item kicked the hornet’s nest of microtransaction talk into a fervor. So much so that Blizzard’s floating head has chimed in. Zarhym states that the “5.4 In-Game Store” label is part of Blizzard doing its research. “We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game.” the skull said.
There’s no official confirmation of such a feature, but it’s unlikely Blizzard would take it this far to turn back. It’s not unprecedented by any means. The community has been very receptive to the out-of-game microtransactions.
Now we can all start speculating on a business model change.
As a comment on the WoWhead page you linked said:
“My guess would be Korean regions, since you have to pay by the hour and they’ve already implemented Korean-only changes like special loot ilvls for 25-player raids.”