Diablo III's Auction House

[Baresark]

Not a fan. I think there is a real danger of this affecting the balance of the game world. People spending money to get better equipment, giving them an advantage over player who do not participate in this scheme. Between this, the always on DRM, and the prohibition of modding create a real problem for the game world. Ugh, I'm sure lots of people find this to be a good idea regardless. But, if it's wrong that it happened previously, why is it right now that Blizzard are the ones doing it?

I'll with hold judgement for the moment though. I'll bide my time, definitely not a first day pickup.

So basically, Gold farming is okay so long as Blizzard gets their due cut.
Great.

I'm with you on this same subject.

 

[Atheist.]

I love how so many people are bitching about this. It isn't an MMO, you can always play offline. Plus pretty much every weapon has a level and stat requirement. What's so different from this and someone having a high level alt and feeding good items to their lower level character? Just because someone has a job/life and can't play until level 99 shouldn't be a severe handicap. You aren't really buying power as much as saving time grinding for items, which frankly, not everyone has time for.

Once the game gets old enough, the economy will balance out anyhow. It's not like people are going to get rich trying to sell items that thousands of other people have already found. I think this option is leagues better than before. Anyone else remember all the hacked shit that went on in the previous Diablo games? Yeah, I'm good on all that.

 

[Baresark]

I love how so many people are bitching about this. It isn't an MMO, you can always play offline. Plus pretty much every weapon has a level and stat requirement. What's so different from this and someone having a high level alt and feeding good items to their lower level character? Just because someone has a job/life and can't play until level 99 shouldn't be a severe handicap. You aren't really buying power as much as saving time grinding for items, which frankly, not everyone has time for.

Once the game gets old enough, the economy will balance out anyhow. It's not like people are going to get rich trying to sell items that thousands of other people have already found. I think this option is leagues better than before. Anyone else remember all the hacked shit that went on in the previous Diablo games? Yeah, I'm good on all that.

That is the same reasoning as to why it should be ok for gold farming and sales in WoW? And you can still use this to purchase more rare equipment for your character at the level they are at. The people who don't/can't participate will be at a disadvantage, and the game world will be out of balance. And, you can't play offline, you are always online with the system they have in place for this game.

Also, I'm getting sick of watching ads for the captcha. I know you want revenue, but fuck off.

 

[Atheist.]

I love how so many people are bitching about this. It isn't an MMO, you can always play offline. Plus pretty much every weapon has a level and stat requirement. What's so different from this and someone having a high level alt and feeding good items to their lower level character? Just because someone has a job/life and can't play until level 99 shouldn't be a severe handicap. You aren't really buying power as much as saving time grinding for items, which frankly, not everyone has time for.

Once the game gets old enough, the economy will balance out anyhow. It's not like people are going to get rich trying to sell items that thousands of other people have already found. I think this option is leagues better than before. Anyone else remember all the hacked shit that went on in the previous Diablo games? Yeah, I'm good on all that.

That is the same reasoning as to why it should be ok for gold farming and sales in WoW? And you can still use this to purchase more rare equipment for your character at the level they are at. The people who don't/can't participate will be at a disadvantage, and the game world will be out of balance. And, you can't play offline, you are always online with the system they have in place for this game.

Also, I'm getting sick of watching ads for the captcha. I know you want revenue, but fuck off.

Diablo isn't the same as WoW in terms of content. WoW is a literally a PVP based game. Horde vs Alliance. Diablo is primarily co-op or PVE game, with optional PVP content. Also, are you sure they completely removed single player? Every other Diablo game has had a single player component, granted you couldn't use that character online, but whatever. From what I understand, it's always online, but there is still a single player option, this is probably to prevent hacking.

My only issue with this is that it disturbes PVP balance, which isn't a major deal to me. Some people may have more of a problem with it, but if they care enough, they'll find time to farm their gear. Honestly, if someone wanted to get their epic sword of awesomeness +10 without this system, they'd just buy it online or find a way to hack it. This doesn't change a whole lot in my opinion, it just helps the sheep do it easier and safer.

 

[bakan]

snip

Diablo isn't the same as WoW in terms of content. WoW is a literally a PVP based game. Horde vs Alliance. Diablo is primarily co-op or PVE game, with optional PVP content. Also, are you sure they completely removed single player? Every other Diablo game has had a single player component, granted you couldn't use that character online, but whatever. From what I understand, it's always online, but there is still a single player option, this is probably to prevent hacking.

My only issue with this is that it disturbes PVP balance, which isn't a major deal to me. Some people may have more of a problem with it, but if they care enough, they'll find time to farm their gear. Honestly, if someone wanted to get their epic sword of awesomeness +10 without this system, they'd just buy it online or find a way to hack it. This doesn't change a whole lot in my opinion, it just helps the sheep do it easier and safer.

They removed single player and you have to be always online.
Besides this 'official' shop will eliminate item for item exchange and the ingame currency auction house is a farce, as everyone will go for the premium shop except the hardcore mode players.

At the same time you will have a black market who just sells items without Blizzard fees and a bit cheaper than the official auction house.

Oh and it will overthrow balance as they even advertise arenas.

Blizzard just wants to have a new cash-cow.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

I don't know about this. I don't really find it fair at all - people with big wallets in real-life can buy their way to victory now?

Also: No mods, no offline playmode. I guess making another character is going to cost money as well, or a name change. Blizzard really isn't the same anymore.

I"m looking forward all the more to Torchlight II now.

 

[Atheist.]

snip

Diablo isn't the same as WoW in terms of content. WoW is a literally a PVP based game. Horde vs Alliance. Diablo is primarily co-op or PVE game, with optional PVP content. Also, are you sure they completely removed single player? Every other Diablo game has had a single player component, granted you couldn't use that character online, but whatever. From what I understand, it's always online, but there is still a single player option, this is probably to prevent hacking.

My only issue with this is that it disturbes PVP balance, which isn't a major deal to me. Some people may have more of a problem with it, but if they care enough, they'll find time to farm their gear. Honestly, if someone wanted to get their epic sword of awesomeness +10 without this system, they'd just buy it online or find a way to hack it. This doesn't change a whole lot in my opinion, it just helps the sheep do it easier and safer.

They removed single player and you have to be always online.
Besides this 'official' shop will eliminate item for item exchange and the ingame currency auction house is a farce, as everyone will go for the premium shop except the hardcore mode players.

At the same time you will have a black market who just sells items without Blizzard fees and a bit cheaper than the official auction house.

Oh and it will overthrow balance as they even advertise arenas.

Blizzard just wants to have a new cash-cow.

Not trying to argue most of your points, but there appears to be a single player here.

"Will there be a single-player component in addition to multiplayer?"

"Yes. In addition to battling the hordes of the Burning Hells cooperatively with friends over Battle.net, players will be able to adventure through the world of Diablo III solo. More details on both the single-player and multiplayer experience will be revealed at a later date."


I've found this quote on numerous websites.

I'm fairly confident there is single player, you just need an internet connection to use it. Plus, there are always mods to fix it, if there seriously isn't the option at launch.

Although considering the quality of Blizzard games, can you blame them for wanting more money than the 60$ (Or whatever it is in your region) per game? At least they aren't charging everyone more money. They have seem to be getting greedy recently, but I think that started when they merged with Activision.

 

[John Funk]

Basically, people complaining about the auction house never played Diablo 2 online

 

[bakan]

snip

Not trying to argue most of your points, but there appears to be a single player here.

"Will there be a single-player component in addition to multiplayer?"

"Yes. In addition to battling the hordes of the Burning Hells cooperatively with friends over Battle.net, players will be able to adventure through the world of Diablo III solo. More details on both the single-player and multiplayer experience will be revealed at a later date."


I've found this quote on numerous websites.

I'm fairly confident there is single player, you just need an internet connection to use it. Plus, there are always mods to fix it, if there seriously isn't the option at launch.

Although considering the quality of Blizzard games, can you blame them for wanting more money than the 60$ (Or whatever it is in your region) per game? At least they aren't charging everyone more money. They have seem to be getting greedy recently, but I think that started when they merged with Activision.

Well I should have said offline mode, that's what I meant in the first place

The problem is with the greedy part, first microtransactions for WoW (I only played till Burning Crusade) and then you had to be always-online in SC2, at first (changed later on) and the stupid custom maps system, so they could easily profit off the pay-to-play maps (again, didn't play SC2 for this very reasons).

Now they do it with D3 and eventually screw around with the balance of the game and the way you would normally play it.

Additionally they removed the skill system and exchanged it with this kinda weird and bad pool/traits system, you don't have a movable camera/zoom function, they removed the option for mods as you don't have an offline mode anymore, you have to run over mana and health bubbles and I kinda dislike the art style etc...

In the end the auction house and that you have to be online the whole time kinda clinched it for me and I'll pass on it.

 

[Kris015]

Wait wait wait.. I don't get this.

I can sell and buy things for real money? Or only buy things and sell them for blizzards own currency?

 

[Tanki]

This has already been done in a game called "Drift City" http://driftcity.gamescampus.com/ it's a Korean game. You could buy items from the developers and sell them in the auction house for in-game currency called "Mito". I played this market and by the end I knew every in and out of the system. I dominated the in-game market for 3 years and never spent a single cent on the game. But eventually it came down to this, having so much money and nothing to do with it except buy more items to make even more money. Ya this "meta game" will get old very fast for a clever man, while the people that don't know what they are doing will keep getting ripped off. They have essentially created the same in-game market by not allowing the player to cash in their e-money for real money. I know exactly how this will end. Noblesse Oblige

 

[TaboriHK]

This way, way incentivizes account thievery. At least in D2 you had to be complicit in the system, imagine all the account hijacking from WoW but now with the middle man cut out. Thanks, Blizz.

 

[Xanthious]

This is just another step down that slippery slope. This is also a bad sign for that yet to be announced MMO Blizz is working on I believe. Looking at how they have been treating WoW lately and now this it's clear Blizz is far more interested in developing ways to separate players from their money than they are making good games. Real world currency has NO PLACE in a game except for the initial purchase and subscription fees if they should apply.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Basically, people complaining about the auction house never played Diablo 2 online

Sir, I am offended and appalled that you would make such an accusation, as I am an unprofessional devil's advocate and Diablo 2 player.
Meaning that I can both complain about the auction house and play Diablo 2 online. Have at you! >


On a more serious note....I understand what blizzard is trying. They are trying really hard to keep moving in this up-to date world with all the Pirates and stuff....but the problem is that they are caught up in a bad race. Always on? Hell, there is no way I will get a game like that. Because then I not only have to depend on my ISP, I also have to depend on my router, my computer equipment for online play, and also the servers on their end. Too much dependency that is out of my hands.

The auction house sounds good on paper, but I think it ignores how many people can abuse said system, and how it doesn't even stop what they claim. This system is 100% secure? When someone says that, run, DON'T WALK, away. Especially in online environments this is a stupid idea to think that you are secure, that people won't be hacked, that accounts won't be compromised, and that users are not stupid and won't give away their information to random messages that look official.

Sorry Blizzard, you used to be cool and all, but I can't play your games.

 

[John Funk]

This is just another step down that slippery slope. This is also a bad sign for that yet to be announced MMO Blizz is working on I believe. Looking at how they have been treating WoW lately and now this it's clear Blizz is far more interested in developing ways to separate players from their money than they are making good games. Real world currency has NO PLACE in a game except for the initial purchase and subscription fees if they should apply.

But it'll be there anyway, if you remember Diablo 2. It's the exact same argument in the real-world drug trade, actually: Prohibition doesn't work, and it ends up funneling more money to the black market (drug dealers, or in this case gold/item sellers) with less security (laced/dangerous drugs, or duped/inaccurate items). If you can never stamp it out entirely, why not provide it a secure environment?

Basically, people complaining about the auction house never played Diablo 2 online

Sir, I am offended and appalled that you would make such an accusation, as I am an unprofessional devil's advocate and Diablo 2 player.
Meaning that I can both complain about the auction house and play Diablo 2 online. Have at you! >


On a more serious note....I understand what blizzard is trying. They are trying really hard to keep moving in this up-to date world with all the Pirates and stuff....but the problem is that they are caught up in a bad race. Always on? Hell, there is no way I will get a game like that. Because then I not only have to depend on my ISP, I also have to depend on my router, my computer equipment for online play, and also the servers on their end. Too much dependency that is out of my hands.

The auction house sounds good on paper, but I think it ignores how many people can abuse said system, and how it doesn't even stop what they claim. This system is 100% secure? When someone says that, run, DON'T WALK, away. Especially in online environments this is a stupid idea to think that you are secure, that people won't be hacked, that accounts won't be compromised, and that users are not stupid and won't give away their information to random messages that look official.

Sorry Blizzard, you used to be cool and all, but I can't play your games.

well, to the best of my knowledge the WoW AH hasn't ever been hacked yet - any security breaches are always on the client's end. Which, like you said, relies on people not being dumb.

This is why the Bnet Authenticator is the best thing ever

 

[Uszi]

More and more Blizzard is starting to piss me off with the stupid shit they're doing with Diablo 3.

First was with the stupid ass idea to give every character their own "magic" system and it make it more confusing then the basic mana system. Then getting rid of the town portal scrolls. Now this bullshit, ughh this just reeks of Kotick not knowing jackshit about games.

Yeah, I'm not sure this is the right solution to gold and item selling. It reeks of Kotick.

I love how they are claiming they are using this system to curb players accounts getting jacked. "Definitely one of the biggest problems with WoW is the account compromises that happen from all those situations." But lets also take a bit of money from each and every transaction. What? It's for your own safety!

Did they forget why they were trying to stop gold sellers in the first place? Cause it fucks your game. Man, glad I'm not at all interested in this game.

Why exactly can't we buy and sell with the in-game currency? Why must real money get involved if this is really to "facilitate trading?"

I gotta say, I smell Kotick all over this.

So basically, Gold farming is okay so long as Blizzard gets their due cut.
Great.

Wow, so people half-read the article, or just read the title, and post knee jerk reactions... Nice.

I don't buy the argument that they're motivated primarily by greed: Blizzard wasted a lot of time and energy trying to fight the black market economies of Diablo 2 and WoW, only to learn that players are going to find ways around safeguards to engage in unsafe, real money transactions with unknown 3rd party entities.

So, rather than continuing to waste their time, they're simply integrating that experience into the game. Ultimately this system is safer for players who might otherwise be giving access to their accounts or credit cards to strangers on the internet. This reminds me of my stance on abortion: while I personally wouldn't want to abort, I'd rather there be a safe system in place to protect those who are going to do it, come hell or high-water.

If you don't want to participate in real money exchanges, then don't. Simple as that. There is a gold based auction house, and there are still player to player trades like there were in Diablo 2.

As far as them charging fees on the transactions, I think that an aspect of it is taking "their piece of the pie," but certainly another part of it is paying for an extensive value added feature. Running a 24/7 mini-Ebay in game requires additional staffing and resources, and the fairest way to cover those costs would be to charge players on a transactional basis, based on how much they use the system.

To those crying "Greed!," how do you suggest that Blizzard cover the costs of running the extensive auction house system, given that Diablo 3 isn't going to be subscription based? Should they charge more for the game up front? How much more? What happens a few years down the line when many fewer people are paying up front for the game, but still using persistent features like the Auction house?

Or should it just rain gumdrops and lollipops and everything should be free?




Finally: apparently Kotick has become a word synonymous with scape goat.

 

[Uszi]

Ok Pardo.. ive got a real easy solution. Seeings how your the organization who controls the code of the game, Perhaps, maybe, you can code to prevent these transactions all together. Yeah go ahead, cut the connectivity cord. Wouldnt that be easier than making a system you are trying to sound like you dont want?

Yes...clear and blatant cash grab. At least have the decency to admit its a blatant cash grab.

How do you code in game for people logging onto the internet outside of the game, and giving account/credit card information to item traders?

Are you even aware of what the problem is? [http://www.d2ok.com/]

The easier way would be to remove the effect currency has on the market, or build a more stable economy, but that wouldn't fill their coffers as fast.

Who cares if a parent's credit card is emptied? Blizzard obviously doesn't.

The security of parents' credit cards is not Blizzard's responsibility.

I don't know about you, but I have never been tempted to steal from my parents.

In any event, a game rated M shouldn't have unsupervised, underage players anyway.

So double fail for parents with drained accounts.

because of the way the game type is setup, in an mmo items are supposed to be hard to get since it makes you play longer, this is a dungeon crawler though, its about tons of items and quickly finding new replacement items, with perhaps a bit of rareness to some really good ones, really there is only one type of item that goes into this sort of thing at all and it is the set piece item, which is a stupid idea for this game type anyway

So you've never played Diablo 2?

How many MF runs did you do on Hell Mephisto?

As someone who has literally done thousands of magic find runs, who's spent hours trading in D2, I can tell you that getting high tier gear without resorting to the black market is much more punishing in D2 than it is in WoW. For instance, just about any character who raids enough will eventually complete the high tier armor sets in WoW. On the other hand, it's impossible to get the ideal Hammerdin build in D2 without trading for duped Zod runes or a duped Enigma, or just buying one on the internet.

 

[Xanthious]

This is just another step down that slippery slope. This is also a bad sign for that yet to be announced MMO Blizz is working on I believe. Looking at how they have been treating WoW lately and now this it's clear Blizz is far more interested in developing ways to separate players from their money than they are making good games. Real world currency has NO PLACE in a game except for the initial purchase and subscription fees if they should apply.

But it'll be there anyway, if you remember Diablo 2. It's the exact same argument in the real-world drug trade, actually: Prohibition doesn't work, and it ends up funneling more money to the black market (drug dealers, or in this case gold/item sellers) with less security (laced/dangerous drugs, or duped/inaccurate items). If you can never stamp it out entirely, why not provide it a secure environment?

The "It's going to happen anyway" argument is such a defeatist stance on the whole thing it makes me sick. A lot of bad things are going to happen anyway but by no means does that mean they should be embraced. Murder is going to happen despite anyone's best effort as is rape, arson, etc. It would be insane to say "Well those are going to happen anyway so lets see how we can turn a profit off of em". It takes zero character to do what Blizz has done and cave.

By doing this Blizzard has simply admitted defeat to the Chinese gold farmers and offered to set up a nice portion Diablo 3 for them to operate. The only real question in my mind is whether or not this decision was made out of being lazy and gutless or simply being greedy.

It woudln't be so bad if they were to offer up servers for people to who don't want to pay their way to victory. However, they have already said they will not be doing so and as such it pretty much makes the gold auction houses dead on arrival and turns the entire D3 economy into one based off of real world money. There will be no place for players who want to play online without feeling forced into paying real world money to do so.

 

[TheDooD]

snip

Diablo 3 doesn't need, shit it never NEEDS an auction house because players should never ever be able to buy power. Other games that have auction houses have serious problems with players overcharging so only those leet players can use the items. This happened in NEXON ran F2P MMO's it's still happening in WOW. Plus players will still find a way to cheat the system. Also you have to remember D3 will have a PVP mode having an auction house basically breaks this mode because normal players playing legitimately without using the house will hardly be able to beat the paying players with all the broken gear they shelled money out for. It's splits the D3 community all paid players will looks like scum to all players that put in all that hard work for their items.

 

[John Funk]

This is just another step down that slippery slope. This is also a bad sign for that yet to be announced MMO Blizz is working on I believe. Looking at how they have been treating WoW lately and now this it's clear Blizz is far more interested in developing ways to separate players from their money than they are making good games. Real world currency has NO PLACE in a game except for the initial purchase and subscription fees if they should apply.

But it'll be there anyway, if you remember Diablo 2. It's the exact same argument in the real-world drug trade, actually: Prohibition doesn't work, and it ends up funneling more money to the black market (drug dealers, or in this case gold/item sellers) with less security (laced/dangerous drugs, or duped/inaccurate items). If you can never stamp it out entirely, why not provide it a secure environment?

The "It's going to happen anyway" argument is such a defeatist stance on the whole thing it makes me sick. A lot of bad things are going to happen anyway but by no means does that mean they should be embraced. Murder is going to happen despite anyone's best effort as is rape, arson, etc. It would be insane to say "Well those are going to happen anyway so lets see how we can turn a profit off of em". It takes zero character to do what Blizz has done and cave.

By doing this Blizzard has simply admitted defeat to the Chinese gold farmers and offered to set up a nice portion Diablo 3 for them to operate. The only real question in my mind is whether or not this decision was made out of being lazy and gutless or simply being greedy.

It woudln't be so bad if they were to offer up servers for people to who don't want to pay their way to victory. However, they have already said they will not be doing so and as such it pretty much makes the gold auction houses dead on arrival and turns the entire D3 economy into one based off of real world money. There will be no place for players who want to play online without feeling forced into paying real world money to do so.

Actually, look at EVE Online for an almost perfect analogue. I know plenty of people who still play EVE without ever dropping a cent on the game.

If one way of combating a problem doesn't work, then the answer isn't to keep trying it. It's to try something new - and this, at least, is a model that has had proven success in games like EVE.