Diablo III's Auction House

[Azure Sky]

So... no mods, no skill point, can only play online, and a bloated economy auction house where you can buy power for cash. Yeah, no thanks. Now what will I do for my bashy-slashy fun?

Oh, they're making a Torchlight 2? Bye Blizzard!

While I liked Torchlight 1, all it really did was get me to go and play D2 again =(

 

[Denamic]

Who cares?
Don't like it, don't use it.
Just play singleplayer or online co-op, like the game's supposed to be played.
Maybe even sell that Sword of Swordery that you can't use for some actual cash.

 

[StrixMaxima]

I'm sure sellers will still crop up to undercut the market prices, but at least this gives players an option without shadiness.

There is an option without shadiness: playing the game for what it should originally be: fun.

 

[Azure Sky]

Who cares?
Don't like it, don't use it.
Just play singleplayer or online co-op, like the game's supposed to be played.
Maybe even sell that Sword of Swordery that you can't use for some actual cash.

This is how I see things.

I'm sure sellers will still crop up to undercut the market prices, but at least this gives players an option without shadiness.

There is an option without shadiness: playing the game for what it should originally be: fun.

"Fun" is a very loaded word in this context.

Borrowing WoW for examples again.
Some people consider raiding worth their 15$/m, while some prefer pvp.
I know some people that pay the 15$ purely for the social aspect rather than actual gameplay.
Some play purely to grief other people. (This one I find sad, but I have seen it)
And dare I say it, some people pay 15$/m to ebay the account at a later date.

All of these things can be seen as the user playing to have 'fun' =3

I myself run a Lv60 guild that explores old content, that is how I derive enjoyment out of the game. =3

 

[Azure Sky]

I know this is a double post but I think it is separate enough to be valid.

Am I the only one who considers the thought of being able to get content/time for one game (See:WoW time/Blizz store items/Blizz store games) from actually playing another Blizzard game to be a rather intriguing concept?

Also anyone have any opinions/discussion points on said thought?

 

[FoolKiller]

Hmm.... I read this as:

"Others have found a way to make money using the game that we didn't think of. We want to get in on that too"

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

So Diablo 3 is essentially going to adopt elements of the F2P model? Interesting. I can't say I'd ever be interested in paying real money for an in-game item, but it makes sense to try and curb some of the gold sellers by offering the services yourself. The part that concerns me though is how much 'Blizzard money' it will cost you to redeem say a month's playtime in WoW. Because if running a high level character through the D3 equivalent of the cow level a few times nets you enough profit to pay for a month in WoW, soon every WoW player will have a D3 toon to farm them their account fees. Then the question must be begged: if everyone is putting their items up on the real money auction house, surely the in game currency auction house will be rendered effectively useless, and people who don't want to part with cold hard cash will be left out. Granted, you don't NEED to buy anything in this game, as with any F2P model, but we all know the way Diablo's difficulty scaling works. You need high quality gear to remain effective at upper-Nightmare and Hell difficulties, so people who put up cash on the real AH will be able to skip a crapload of grinding time.

Edit: What the actual fuck is going on with these captcha adverts. I love how these things are supposed to cut down on 'spam' while they're now ironically spamming us with adverts...

 

[Kanatatsu]

I don't think anyone really has a clue what is going to happen with this system, but I am damn curious to see the results.

Good on Blizzard for trying something different.

 

[ZeoAssassin]

finally found this Funk article from a couple years back that is incredibly relevant to this.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/view-from-the-road/6330-A-View-from-the-Road-How-I-Learned-to-Stop-Worrying-and-Love-the-Microtransaction

Diablo 3 is pretty much doing that exact same thing but with the players controlling the pricing and making money off it as well.

 

[bakan]

So... no mods, no skill point, can only play online, and a bloated economy auction house where you can buy power for cash. Yeah, no thanks. Now what will I do for my bashy-slashy fun?

Oh, they're making a Torchlight 2? Bye Blizzard!

While I liked Torchlight 1, all it really did was get me to go and play D2 again =(

T1 had many flaws in itself, the mods you could apply made it great - harder dungeons, new classes, etc

Well, and T2 will have the things T1 had and will get multiplayer, at the moment I'm also more excited for T2 than D3

 

[bader0]

well this is probably not going to affect me as i will only play this game with my friends none of whom i can see spending actual money after BUYING the game. Still i will be a little bit upset if this catches on in mmos and whatnot.

 

[Abedeus]

1: Prohibition will not stop RMT, It has taken Blizzard long enough to realize this.

2: Any player of games, particularly MMOs knows that gear =/= skill, where is the advantage?

3: If you waste your own money, it's Blizzards fault now?

Seriously though, RMT will hit DIII within it's first shelf week, AH or not.
DII is crawling with them, WoW is almost as bad, it is an unsightly plague on MMOs.

1. Of course it won't stop it, but it DEFINITELY reduces it.

2. You are joking right? Go try to WoW PvP in a set of blues against a person in full epics and see how far you get. Gear might not equal skill but these games put A LOT of emphasis on gear, so much that it is the primary means of character progression. There is no reason to think D3 is going to be any better.

3. Did you even read what I was replying to? The person I was talking to said that Blizzard would be able to regulate RMT, and I pointed out that there is nothing to regulate.

Nobody is arguing the fact that RMT will hit D3 with auction house not, but making it illegal would definitely diminish it. Making it illegal poses a number of obstacles for a would-be gold buyer(banning risk, monetary risk, identity risk, hassle of dealing with shady sites, etc) that DOES prevent many cases of gold/item buying.

At least in this manner Blizzard is forcing the RMT to be played on their terms as well as hopefully keeping a stable market in the process.

Sorry but what terms are you talking about? The only term that Blizzard has put on this Auction House is that the seller must pay a fee. There is NOTHING stopping RMT'ers from simply moving their transcations from their own site to Blizzard's Auction house.

What makes you believe that this is going to remove any of the problems associated with RMT?

1: Not in the slightest, you do realize that RMT is, and always has been against the WoW ToS/EULA? I unfortunately bare witness to how successful their RMT sites are every time I log in.

2: Been there, done that. Was actually quite boring. However this is coming from someone who enjoys 'ganking' people that are 5-10 levels Higher then myself.

3: Sure there is, value of currency.

It will hit, and if WoW or DII is repeated and all the RMT is external, they will once again be powerless to stop it. As for risk? If they are outside of legal jurisdiction (US for Blizzard in this case) They cannot touch them, the best they can do is ban the account, assets and all. Which is usually a minor setback at best, as they usually only catch the carrier accounts, not the storage ones. Sand on a beach.

As for how the system will deal with the RMT problems? There is only one problem with RMT (Aside from hacking, but that is another topic) Is devaluation of currency. If farming sites are forced to buy, sell and trade on the same level as every other player in the game there is a greater likelihood that the currency will retain its value. Not to mention it allows Blizz to track suspect accounts as everything is serverside.

1. So don't bother tracking them down and shutting down, let's help them. And get something for ourselves.
2. Yeeaaaahhh okay.
3. No? Blizzard isn't going to do anything to AH, it's player-driven.

Okay, look at this: Gold selling companies set up bots/Chinese sweat shop workers to farm items/gold.

You find an unique, incredibly happy, go to AH, and want to get a fair price for it. You know it's a good unique, it's great item.

What do you see?

JoeyHoney1 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney2 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney3 sells it for $0.5. Hundreds of Chinese bots break down the economy.

 

[Azure Sky]

1. So don't bother tracking them down and shutting down, let's help them. And get something for ourselves.
2. Yeeaaaahhh okay.
3. No? Blizzard isn't going to do anything to AH, it's player-driven.

Okay, look at this: Gold selling companies set up bots/Chinese sweat shop workers to farm items/gold.

You find an unique, incredibly happy, go to AH, and want to get a fair price for it. You know it's a good unique, it's great item.

What do you see?

JoeyHoney1 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney2 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney3 sells it for $0.5. Hundreds of Chinese bots break down the economy.

1: Given the current evidence, Blizz is unable to 'track down' much less being able to touch any operation off-shore save for occasionally catching a carrier account, which has nothing stored.

2: I pick on people more 'powerful', it's how I roll. =3

3: The point stands, it self-regulates, as I have said many times.

Besides, any RMT site that operates in Blizzards little AH essentially lay all their cards out for Blizzard to track on a whim. Unlike the ones that operate out of unsecured third party sites.

Not to mention there is a currency lock on the AH's, making it much harder to trade USD outside of the US. And if they start up in the US, then Blizz can crush them with the 250mm Lawyer Cannons. =3

Edit: Also keep in mind that the RMTers still need to pull a profit over the Listing, Sale and Cash out Fees. Blizz have stated that players get a few free listings a week, and if you don't cash out - use it for more AH/Blizz store, that is a potential 1 fee to 3, netting you a higher profit at a lower listing price.

Edit:Edit: Driving RMTers to list at bare minimum prices, while still being able to undercut them for higher profit as well as potentially securing a high-value currency market seems to be a highly possible outcome - assuming Blizz don't screw it up.

 

[Abedeus]

1. So don't bother tracking them down and shutting down, let's help them. And get something for ourselves.
2. Yeeaaaahhh okay.
3. No? Blizzard isn't going to do anything to AH, it's player-driven.

Okay, look at this: Gold selling companies set up bots/Chinese sweat shop workers to farm items/gold.

You find an unique, incredibly happy, go to AH, and want to get a fair price for it. You know it's a good unique, it's great item.

What do you see?

JoeyHoney1 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney2 sells it for $0.5, JoeyHoney3 sells it for $0.5. Hundreds of Chinese bots break down the economy.

1: Given the current evidence, Blizz is unable to 'track down' much less being able to touch any operation off-shore save for occasionally catching a carrier account, which has nothing stored.

2: I pick on people more 'powerful', it's how I roll. =3

3: The point stands, it self-regulates, as I have said many times.

Besides, any RMT site that operates in Blizzards little AH essentially lay all their cards out for Blizzard to track on a whim. Unlike the ones that operate out of unsecured third party sites.

Not to mention there is a currency lock on the AH's, making it much harder to trade USD outside of the US. And if they start up in the US, then Blizz can crush them with the 250mm Lawyer Cannons. =3

Your 1 and things under 3rd point contradict themselves.

Blizz can't track down RMT. But if they try to start RMT here, Blizz will make law happen!!1
Unless they just connect from outside.

AH regulates itself IF it's just players. Bots don't count as players. Even if a thousand of players wants to sell an item for $5, bots will get ten times more items and sell them for $2.5. People who want to buy the item won't care if it's from a legal player or a bot, thus forcing normal people to sell items cheaper. RMT bots will put their items cheaper, and it will happen over and over until everyone gives up on AH and just lets the bots sell items. Items become worthless, even more than in D2, because now you can legally sell them for real money.

 

[Azure Sky]

snip

Your 1 and things under 3rd point contradict themselves.

Blizz can't track down RMT. But if they try to start RMT here, Blizz will make law happen!!1
Unless they just connect from outside.

AH regulates itself IF it's just players. Bots don't count as players. Even if a thousand of players wants to sell an item for $5, bots will get ten times more items and sell them for $2.5. People who want to buy the item won't care if it's from a legal player or a bot, thus forcing normal people to sell items cheaper. RMT bots will put their items cheaper, and it will happen over and over until everyone gives up on AH and just lets the bots sell items. Items become worthless, even more than in D2, because now you can legally sell them for real money.

1st and 3rd point have noting to do with one another.

Also, read my edits, sleep deprivation is leading me to miss things.

 

[Breywood]

The auction house doesn't sound as bad as it could be, It isn't like it's necessary to buy items to "be good." Then again, I can see why the PvP kiddies and those who are hoping to make their mark online would be upset at this, and for some odd reason, I feel like listening to some classic Beck with a big foolish grin on my face.

On the other hand, in spite of the fact I play Diablo 2 regularly, I don't trade on D2jsp, I don't but from item sites and I don't PvP, I don't care where I am on the Ladder...

aaaand I've never been to Boston in the fall!

 

[Smooth Operator]

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

Cmon don't be like that, you know Bobby loves you('re wallet)

Gotta hand it to them tho, the pool of money making bullshit ideas never runs out.

 

[fundayz]

Your 1 and things under 3rd point contradict themselves.

Blizz can't track down RMT. But if they try to start RMT here, Blizz will make law happen!!1
Unless they just connect from outside.

AH regulates itself IF it's just players. Bots don't count as players. Even if a thousand of players wants to sell an item for $5, bots will get ten times more items and sell them for $2.5. People who want to buy the item won't care if it's from a legal player or a bot, thus forcing normal people to sell items cheaper. RMT bots will put their items cheaper, and it will happen over and over until everyone gives up on AH and just lets the bots sell items. Items become worthless, even more than in D2, because now you can legally sell them for real money.

Don't bother arguing with him, you can't get logic through. He speaks out of speculation, avoids arguments, and misleads conversation.

His whole argument boils down to "Players will out compete RMT sites thus stabilizing the economy", yet keeps avoiding the question of HOW regular, casual players are going to compete with businesses built and OPTIMIZED to produce the most amount of gold using unfair, but unavoidable, means like bots and exploited 3rd world workers? The answer is obvious: They won't.

Players WILL be undercut and oversold by near-anonymous groups, as integrating the transaction system into the game will remove the necessity of having site in the first place. This system gives RMT groups a direct, secure line to their customers in-game.

It is absolutely genius from a business stand point, being basically a perfect example of "If you can't beat them, join them". However, even though it will likely make them more money, it sells out the integrity of the franchise by making Diablo 3 a game that you buy in order to spend more money on it.

He also completely ignored one of my main points(even though he claimed he did): Even if the economic problems with RMT group WERE completely avoided, allowing players to buy in-game benefits using out-of-game means is a terrible idea.

You can't sale power! Even Extra Credits had an episode about this.

It undermines the challenge of the game, the reward mechanics of the game, and [more importantly] it completely undermines other players' efforts and merits.

 

[Breywood]

Double post.

 

[Breywood]

It undermines the challenge of the game, the reward mechanics of the game, and [more importantly] it completely undermines other players' efforts and merits.

It will undermine the challenge of the game IF you so let it and allow others to dictate to you how to enjoy playing the game. I'm not sure how many people will break down and spend real money for virtual items (I sure as hell wouldn't, even IF i were interested in D3) and it would only be an issue with the people who take the PvP aspect seriously*. If there will be a PvP leaderboard or even a "ladder", then yes, this is an issue and needs to be redeveloped. Otherwise, why not just go and play the damn game (when it comes out, of course) and not worry about whether someone else is "cheating?"

This used to be an issue for me. Then I decided to just do my own thing and build characters with gear I farmed from my own characters. And it's the most fun I have until friends ask me for the tenth time if I want a shako or an arach's or if I need a rush for a sorceress so I can start botting.

*Do I have to tell you about how wonderfully mature and professional the Diablo PvP community is?