Diablo 3: Auction house to accept real cash

[StinkyPinky]

Kinda sad that you're going to have people playing this game just to make money. Wtf. Goes against the very spirit of gaming.

 

[Imp]

Nice going on Blizzard's behalf. It's going (and has) to happen anyways, why not cash in?

It'll make the game really interesting though. No longer will it be "that was my drop, you stole my effing drop". We'll now have, "it was my drop mofo, you just stole $50 from me, I gonna find out where yo live!". Good times...

 

[Balt]

I don't like it. I'm not a HUGE fan of the Diablo games to begin with (well not as much as some people, anyway), so now I'm thinking I'll just avoid this one entirely.

It's interesting that it's a flat fee and not a flat fee + % though. If you are going to alienate some of your potential players, you might as well get paid a lot more to do it.

 

[QuantumPion]

But I also have the other concern. The mere presence of a potential monetary value to your items and your time cheapens the experience. Perhaps "making it into work" isn't the best description, as that's only one facet of it. Getting a rare object used to be it's intrinsic reward on it's own. Now it has a dollar value attached. Dollars are real. The game isn't just a fantasy virtual world anymore when the stuff in it has real world value. It's not a cool set of armor when it's potentially money in your pocket. It taints the fun of playing the game to it's core. It's crossing a line that I don't want crossed.

This x1000. I never had a problem with black market gold sellers in WoW. Hell, I even bought gold once or twice because I have a job and didn't want to waste my day farming. The problem is making selling items for real money part of the core game. It put an opportunity cost of real dollars on every item I find.

 

[Arkaign]

I don't really see what the issue here is tbh.

Whether or not it was an official Bliz policy, this kind of thing would happen anyway. This just makes it more accessible to average players that want to do it.

If you want to play without engaging in this kind of economy, you're free to do so.

This news is meh/10.

 

[Glitchny]

Nice going on Blizzard's behalf. It's going (and has) to happen anyways, why not cash in?

It'll make the game really interesting though. No longer will it be "that was my drop, you stole my effing drop". We'll now have, "it was my drop mofo, you just stole $50 from me, I gonna find out where yo live!". Good times...

Drops are unique to the player, no worries about people being able to steal items from each other etc.

I really don't understand all the hate. If you don't like it don't use it, Diablo is a player vs AI/CPU game mostly so other people buying equipment has little to no effect on the game for me.

Smart move by Blizzard.

 

[masterxfob]

there are/were a shit ton of 3rd party websites selling d2 items. so if someone really wanted to buy the best items out there, that option was always there. i don't really see a problem with blizzard trying to capitalize and regulate the in game economy.

 

[AbAbber2k]

Quitting my day job to play D3 full time when it releases to farm epic loot for cash.

 

[ibex333]

This was posted on gamespot today. As expected, Blizz will charge fees for this.

 

[Rifter]

Well i was waiting for D3 this is a bit of a downer for sure.

I will probably still buy it but i hope they can the always online DRM, it has no place in a game with a single player option.

Personally i dont like the real money aspect and agree with kaotik that its going to create a bad atmosphere but you can always just play with friends and the personalized drops that other players cant steal will make it playable, no fighting over drops.

 

[Glitchny]

This was posted on gamespot today. As expected, Blizz will charge fees for this.

Of course they are going to charge for running their own version of eBay but for Diablo3 items. Wouldn't expect them not to.

 

[Arkaign]

Well i was waiting for D3 this is a bit of a downer for sure.

I will probably still buy it but i hope they can the always online DRM, it has no place in a game with a single player option.

Personally i dont like the real money aspect and agree with kaotik that its going to create a bad atmosphere but you can always just play with friends and the personalized drops that other players cant steal will make it playable, no fighting over drops.

I think the issue there is that they have it where people can level their character / gain items in SP mode. I can totally understand making that require internet access so that you can't bring in a bunch of duped/bogus gear quite so easily as if there was a fully offline mode with a local save etc. I'm guessing D3's saves will all be saved in the cloud. If it cuts down on the cheaters/hackers/etc, I'm all for it.

I hate DRM, but I hate cheaters in MP even more so.

The real money issue is a non issue, as this is prevalent in these games with or without official support.

 

[Phobic9]

Well this sucks. I was actually looking forward to playing this during my deployment. Luckily for me, the internet connection where I'm going will be slow and inconsistent enough for me to not even bother trying this game until I return to the states.

Thanks Blizzard! There's plenty of other single player games, as you've said.

 

[BD2003]

I don't really see what the issue here is tbh.

Whether or not it was an official Bliz policy, this kind of thing would happen anyway. This just makes it more accessible to average players that want to do it.

If you want to play without engaging in this kind of economy, you're free to do so.

This news is meh/10.

Legitimizing it through the game is going to make it an order of magnitude more widespread.

The main issue is still the conflict of interest - they have a vested interest in making money off of the sale of virtual goods now, and that MUST have an effect on the development of the game. They're already masters of using operant conditioning techniques, variable interval reinforcement, etc etc....just to get you to keep playing and paying a subscription fees. Now they've found a way to make their most loyal drones into cash machines, but even if you're not dedicated to it, there's always still the "jackpot factor" of finding a super rare and worthwhile item, even for casual players. You can't escape it, and you can't ignore it when everyone else around is focused on it.

Games should be played for fun. Or played for money. Not both at the same time. And worst of all, your pimp shouldn't be the developer. It seems so innocent at face value, but when you really start thinking about it, it should bother you.

 

[Juddog]

This is indeed disappointing. I'm not a fan of the always-connected requirement, so I'll have to pass on Diablo3, which will be the first time I'm passing on a Diablo game.

 

[Juddog]

Legitimizing it through the game is going to make it an order of magnitude more widespread.

The main issue is still the conflict of interest - they have a vested interest in making money off of the sale of virtual goods now, and that MUST have an effect on the development of the game. They're already masters of using operant conditioning techniques, variable interval reinforcement, etc etc....just to get you to keep playing and paying a subscription fees. Now they've found a way to make their most loyal drones into cash machines, but even if you're not dedicated to it, there's always still the "jackpot factor" of finding a super rare and worthwhile item, even for casual players. You can't escape it, and you can't ignore it when everyone else around is focused on it.

Games should be played for fun. Or played for money. Not both at the same time. And worst of all, your pimp shouldn't be the developer. It seems so innocent at face value, but when you really start thinking about it, it should bother you.

Bobby Kotick - he wants your money. "Greed is good"

 

[Chiropteran]

This x1000. I never had a problem with black market gold sellers in WoW. Hell, I even bought gold once or twice because I have a job and didn't want to waste my day farming. The problem is making selling items for real money part of the core game. It put an opportunity cost of real dollars on every item I find.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32068090&postcount=115

The opportunity cost was already there, it was just a little more obfuscated previously. And it would be there in diablo 3, with or without the cash AH. This simply levels the playing field, instead of restricting cash sales to those who don't care to follow the rules.

 

[Chiropteran]

The main issue is still the conflict of interest - they have a vested interest in making money off of the sale of virtual goods now, and that MUST have an effect on the development of the game.

Uh, no.

Without a cash AH: blizzard's goal with itemization is to create a wide variety of items and power to keep players interested for a long time, and some items rare and valuable enough to keep a vibrant player to player economy.

With a cash AH: blizzard's goal with itemization is to create a wide variety of items and power to keep players interested for a long time, and some items rare and valuable enough to keep a vibrant player to player economy, and encourage players to trade items more often.

I don't see any conflict at all, I see aligned interests.

 

[gorcorps]

Uh, no.

Without a cash AH: blizzard's goal with itemization is to create a wide variety of items and power to keep players interested for a long time, and some items rare and valuable enough to keep a vibrant player to player economy.

With a cash AH: blizzard's goal with itemization is to create a wide variety of items and power to keep players interested for a long time, and some items rare and valuable enough to keep a vibrant player to player economy, and encourage players to trade items more often.

I don't see any conflict at all, I see aligned interests.

I agree with this. Blizzard's RPGs have always been loot fests, and that's what people like. It adds a lot of time to the game when you're constantly in search of the item set you've been dreaming over. You can still do it the old fasioned way and keep playing to get those items, or you can blow real money on them. It's still up to you.

The ONLY problem I see is the potential to make already rare items rarer just to encourage people to give up and buy them. BUT with that they run the risk of just frustrating normal players who may just quit altogether (or at least start a new char), which I'm sure they thought of. I don't expect any huge issues with the way the auction house is set up.

 

[Fingolfin269]

This really just doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Anubis]

Drops are unique to the player, no worries about people being able to steal items from each other etc.

I really don't understand all the hate. If you don't like it don't use it, Diablo is a player vs AI/CPU game mostly so other people buying equipment has little to no effect on the game for me.

Smart move by Blizzard.

yea people forget this

if people want to spend money on shit for PVE content its not that big of a deal

 

[gorcorps]

yea people forget this

if people want to spend money on shit for PVE content its not that big of a deal

I heard they were going to add more PVP features *shrug*

 

[Anubis]

I heard they were going to add more PVP features *shrug*

yea areans
which just so happen to be the absolute worst part of PVP in WoW

thanks but no thanks. ill simply stick to rushing chars up the PVE ladder

 

[Wyndru]

I'm still surprised by the greediness on Blizz's behalf regarding this. I wonder if they will implement it into wow's auction house if it is successful. I'm thinking they will, and I'm sure with bnet accts it wouldn't be difficult.

 

[Chiropteran]

I'm still surprised by the greediness on Blizz's behalf regarding this.

How dare they charge a fee for a service provided! They should follow in the footsteps of ebay and paypal and offer a fee-free auction house transaction system.