Diablo 3: Auction house to accept real cash

[RPD]

So a bunch of people really think they're going to make money playing this game?

It's going to be interesting to watch, to say the least.

They never said how much :awe:

 

[mashimaroo]

Is anyone surprised that Blizzard/Activision want to nickel and dime their customers?

pretty sure this is the best way for them to have funds to keep updating and keep the players happy, as well as keep offshore websites from selling items.

there is no one solution that will solve everyone's problem, but hopefully this is a good one.. well just have to wait and see how it all works out when its up and running cant wait!

 

[BD2003]

And that's assuming that bots will indeed happen in Diablo III.

I'm not saying they won't, however. I'm just saying that we have yet to see how "more secure" and safe D3 will be in comparison to... well not just to D2 but in comparison to pretty much everything else remotely similar on the market, since Blizzard is doing something with an action hack and slash RPG that has had no precedent before as far as I know of. If bots are indeed made then Blizzard will have no choice but to wage war on that and their creators on a regular basis since now Blizzard themselves are taking the very risk of it happening.

Blizzard will not wage war on the bots if the bots make them money. Only if they destroy the system irreparably. Sounds like they'll be a stabilizing factor if anything, doing their job for them, AND paying them at the same time.

The whole gold to cash exchange rate sounds nice and simple - but not going to happen unless its more profitable/exploitable than their current system. Doesn't sound like it is.

 

[Chiropteran]

stole this from a friend on another forum and I agree

I disagree. The whole point of transaction fees is to make it unprofitable to buy up an item that is listed for 1% less than the "going rate" to relist. Besides, the going rate is going to fluctuate so much that anyone trying to control it with bots is just going to be ruined when the value of some item drops overnight.

 

[Dumac]

If D3 gold is anything like D2 gold, I don't think anybody is going to want it.

Think about it...how would gold be useful in D3? It was only useful in the very beginning in D2. The trading was all bartering.

Does the AH support bartering?

 

[Chiropteran]

If D3 gold is anything like D2 gold, I don't think anybody is going to want it.

Think about it...how would gold be useful in D3? It was only useful in the very beginning in D2. The trading was all bartering.

Does the AH support bartering?

I like to think that blizzard learned from WoW, where gold has retained some level of value throughout the game. With sufficient gold sinks and controlled gold farming, it will hold some value.

 

[stlcardinals]

If D3 gold is anything like D2 gold, I don't think anybody is going to want it.

Think about it...how would gold be useful in D3? It was only useful in the very beginning in D2. The trading was all bartering.

Does the AH support bartering?

I believe it was stated in the recent interviews that the crafting system is going to be a major gold sink. So gold will maintain a value, along with the fact you can sell gold for $.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

id much rather have blizz profiting on the market than some shady 3rd party.

 

[isekii]

If D3 gold is anything like D2 gold, I don't think anybody is going to want it.

Think about it...how would gold be useful in D3? It was only useful in the very beginning in D2. The trading was all bartering.

Does the AH support bartering?

Gold had value in D2. I paid(items/soj/runes) friends to farm me millions and millions of gold so that I can gamble to no end.

 

[darkewaffle]

If D3 gold is anything like D2 gold, I don't think anybody is going to want it.

Think about it...how would gold be useful in D3? It was only useful in the very beginning in D2. The trading was all bartering.

Does the AH support bartering?

The reason gold lost it's value was due in large part to not having the AH. The AH, provided it's a centralized hub and not overly segmented, will give people access to a price history as reference (encourages buying, secures confidence in not being ripped off) and ensures that the gold they obtain will be useful because everything you can see on the AH "backs up" gold as a currency.

Has there been any word on how the AH functions yet? Like, will there be actual auctions like in WoW? Seems most games are gravitating towards just making auction houses 'buy it now' houses, which I can understand, since most players have a very real need for instant gratification. Either way I don't much care, just curious since they create different kinds of economies.

 

[Dumac]

I believe it was stated in the recent interviews that the crafting system is going to be a major gold sink. So gold will maintain a value, along with the fact you can sell gold for $.

I thought you COULDN'T do that

 

[Dumac]

Gold had value in D2. I paid(items/soj/runes) friends to farm me millions and millions of gold so that I can gamble to no end.

One my level 90 sorc's stash was maxxed on gold, I stopped picking it up

EDIT: removed brainfart comment

 

[Dumac]

The reason gold lost it's value was due in large part to not having the AH. The AH, provided it's a centralized hub and not overly segmented, will give people access to a price history as reference (encourages buying, secures confidence in not being ripped off) and ensures that the gold they obtain will be useful because everything you can see on the AH "backs up" gold as a currency.

I guess.

I suppose it'll be harder to trade up from sigon's boots to a shako.

 

[darkewaffle]

gamble? for what, more gold? I don't think that counts as value

One my level 90 sorc's stash was maxxed on gold, I stopped picking it up

The point of gambling was usually in the hopes of good rares or maybe certain uniques. In theory since you could pick and choose which item type you would gamble on, you were giving yourself better odds of getting what you wanted.

 

[Dumac]

The point of gambling was usually in the hopes of good rares or maybe certain uniques. In theory since you could pick and choose which item type you would gamble on, you were giving yourself better odds of getting what you wanted.

OH THAT GAMBLING

Yeah I forgot about that.

I remember trying with like 2 mil for a unique crystal sword. Never got it...

 

[isekii]

gamble? for what, more gold? I don't think that counts as value

One my level 90 sorc's stash was maxxed on gold, I stopped picking it up

that's the thing.
At lvl 90 you can and should gamble on Rings and Amulets. between 50k-65k respectively

and at that level especially if you can score a +2 ammy with some stats life/mana priz then you're pretty much made what you put in. (in terms of d2 classic)

For example. I'd tell a game friend. I'll give you an SOJ if you can get me 100 million gold.
I'd create a game and basically gamble while the friend is Gold Farming and going in and out of the game dropping me gold.

I think at lvl 90 you can carry anywhere between 2.7 mil - 3.5 mil I don't quite remember the number.
It doesn't take that long for the person to make 100 million especially if the're just gold farming with gf gear.

 

[isekii]

OH THAT GAMBLING

Yeah I forgot about that.

I remember trying with like 2 mil for a unique crystal sword. Never got it...

that's the thing. Noone especially people that know and understand D2 economy would gamble for uniques.

D2 classic I would be gambling for only for ring/ammy rares. In D2 LOD I stopped gambling because it's easier to pick up a 13-15ed 4 soc / 3 soc dusk shroud or equivalent and trade those for what i needed.

 

[Mandres]

stole this from a friend on another forum and I agree

It's a good idea, but they're handling it the wrong way. They should have only allowed players selling gold for dollars and buying gold with dollars, while all auction house transactions are still handled with gold. This keeps the market exchange rate stable since it can only fluctuate via a single "item" and ensures that you can always purchase any item up for action with either gold(by just paying with gold) or dollars(by buying gold from other players first) if you want to. This is similar to how EVE handles things(with PLEX being the only avenue for converting in game money to out of game money and vice versa).

Having potentially thousands of different items up for auction with varying prices for gold and dollars is just asking for the market to be exploited and controlled by bots, since every single item for sale defines a different gold<->dollars exchange rate depending on the price it's being sold at in both gold and dollars. I.e. an automated bot can see item A is being traded at $5 and 50,000 gold while item B is being traded at $8 and 100,000 gold. Bot buys item B for $8, sells it for 100,000 gold, buys 2 of item A for 100,000 gold, and sells them both for $10. A $2 profit is made just by capitalizing on the exchange rate gap between both items, which are impossible to avoid. Also, it's potentially possible that people could abandon the gold market entirely by only auctioning items at a dollar value. It would be awfully annoying if you only wanted to use gold and the item you wanted was posted for 10 cents instead.

I agree completely. Blizzard's role in this should be to facilitate the trading of gold between players just like companies like ign do now, and potentially control inflation by injecting/removing gold from the system like the federal reserve.

All in-game transactions for gear/etc. should be denominated in gold. Otherwise the exchange rate between gear, gold, and dollars will be wildly erratic, and trading bots will manipulate the market and cheat new/ignorant players out of real money.

It's going to be an interesting experiment for sure, and if anyone has the expertise in virtual economics to pull it off it's Blizzard.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I buy a game, that's where my money depositing ends. I won't buy extra shit just because. Like in TF2, sorry, I think it's horseshit that you can buy something your first day it takes someone else 100's hours to earn.

 

[stlcardinals]

I thought you COULDN'T do that

Diablo III Auction House FAQ

Can we buy gold from the currency-based auction house?

Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the currency-based auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community.

 

[Dumac]

Diablo III Auction House FAQ

Oh, ok. I'm excited to see how it pans out.

Items can be sold from the shared stash

SHARED STASH CONFIRMED

If anyone can't figure it out, I've been ignoring all D3 news.

 

[darkewaffle]

Diablo III Auction House FAQ

Well I think the confusion is that one could take it to mean "buy as much gold as you want from Blizzard" as though they're able to dump new gold into the economy.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I buy a game, that's where my money depositing ends. I won't buy extra shit just because. Like in TF2, sorry, I think it's horseshit that you can buy something your first day it takes someone else 100's hours to earn.

This. I've bought a few DLCs here and there, mostly story-based ones for games I love, but I never have and never will buy individual items using real money. If there isn't a method of obtaining something without paying, then I'll just never get it.

 

[ChickenShwarma]

For multiplayer games, I simply do not like any ideas that involve $$$ for items.

 

[Chiropteran]

For multiplayer games, I simply do not like any ideas that involve $$$ for items.

Don't worry, I have the perfect solution for you. Just add me to your battle.net RealID friend list, and whenever you find a valuable item let me know. I'll happily take it off your hands and sell it for that filthy dirty money and you won't ever have to see any of it. The best part: I'm willing to do this service free of charge.