Diablo 3 RMAH fees

[digiram]

So blizz has created a gold mine, where they sell you the pick, and then you get to work for them.... genius!!!

 

[SMOGZINN]

The idea when first pitched to the public was that the $1 or 15% fee would only apply to people doing more then a certain number of transactions a week (at the time they were telling us that the number would be around 2-5, but had not been set yet.) and that the fees were intended to discourage professional farmers. (Other then the Paypal fee, that fee is set and charged by Paypal)

Is that gone now? If so, I'm a little disappointed. It would have been a fairly powerful disincentive to professional farmers.

 

[Chiropteran]

1) It's a $1 fee for weapon, armor and things like that. The 15% is for things like craftables or other stacking things (potions would count too).

2) Percentages are not additive. x * .85 * .85 != x * .70.

3) You only suffer the 15% loss if you "cash out" to PayPal. Chances are you may not want to do this. If you also play WoW, you would save money by paying for your subscription using this money (there is no fee for this). I'm not sure if the money is also good at the Blizzard Store.

1- We don't know the market yet. It's just as possible that $1 may be MORE than 15% of the average item value, making it worse than 15%- it's not necessarily better.

2- It's called rounding. If you want to be pedantic, we could complain about blizzard taking 27.75%, but it is pretty damn close to 30%

3- There is no alternative option to cash out. If you don't cash out with paypal, blizzard keeps 100% of your money, instead of 27.75%... so I'm not sure how this solves the problem. Paying subscription fees, sure, but Diablo 3 has no fee to speak of. I guess this could be a "solution" for WoW players who also play D3, but even if it's paying for a WoW subscription blizzard is still keeping your money, any way you look at it.

 

[SMOGZINN]

1- We don't know the market yet. It's just as possible that $1 may be MORE than 15% of the average item value, making it worse than 15%- it's not necessarily better.

This is IMHO more probable then not. It sets a lower limit to transactions. You can not really buy a $0.10 item, now the lowest possible price will be $1.01. Thinking about it, this could help keep the RMAH from getting spammed by a bunch of worthless goods.

3- There is no alternative option to cash out. If you don't cash out with paypal, blizzard keeps 100% of your money, instead of 27.75%... so I'm not sure how this solves the problem. Paying subscription fees, sure, but Diablo 3 has no fee to speak of. I guess this could be a "solution" for WoW players who also play D3, but even if it's paying for a WoW subscription blizzard is still keeping your money, any way you look at it.

I think there was talk about allowing you to buy real goods with the money from the Blizzard store. If so, I think I'll have a lot of Blizzard branded products in the future.
I think that even if they do allow it at start, they will quickly end that option. It will end up costing Blizzard to much money.

 

[Aikouka]

but even if it's paying for a WoW subscription blizzard is still keeping your money, any way you look at it.

Blizzard may be keeping your e-money, but the $15 that I would normally be paying Blizzard for my WoW subscription would be staying in my bank account. It essentially allows me to curtail the 15% fee.

 

[blurredvision]

Blizzard may be keeping your e-money, but the $15 that I would normally be paying Blizzard for my WoW subscription would be staying in my bank account. It essentially allows me to curtail the 15% fee.

http://eu.battle.net/support/en/article/battle-net-balance-faq

"Can I use my Battle.net Balance as the automatic payment method for my recurring World of Warcraft subscription?

No."

The key word there is "automatic", but I was pretty sure I read elsewhere that they weren't going to allow people to pay for their WoW subs with the Blizzard Balance. They are going to let you pay for certain WoW services such as transfers and such, but not the subscription itself.

 

[LurkerPrime]

This is IMHO more probable then not. It sets a lower limit to transactions. You can not really buy a $0.10 item, now the lowest possible price will be $1.01. Thinking about it, this could help keep the RMAH from getting spammed by a bunch of worthless goods.



I think there was talk about allowing you to buy real goods with the money from the Blizzard store. If so, I think I'll have a lot of Blizzard branded products in the future.
I think that even if they do allow it at start, they will quickly end that option. It will end up costing Blizzard to much money.

They probably have an even greater mark up on the items from the blizzard store. Thats equals a win for them.

I wonder if blizzard is going to send 1099s to the people who end up making over the IRS reporting amounts. Will be interesting listening to people complain about having to give blizzard thier personal info for tax purposes. Everone seems to forget that the IRS wants thier cut too, and for most people, its a bigger cut than blizzard charges.

 

[SMOGZINN]

They probably have an even greater mark up on the items from the blizzard store. Thats equals a win for them.

I don't care about their markup, it is free money to me. Any real product I can get out of it is a win for me.

I wonder if blizzard is going to send 1099s to the people who end up making over the IRS reporting amounts. Will be interesting listening to people complain about having to give blizzard thier personal info for tax purposes. Everone seems to forget that the IRS wants thier cut too, and for most people, its a bigger cut than blizzard charges.

No, Paypal would be the one to give you form 1099-k the same as it has to do for anyone else that sells more then $20k in one year.

 

[Craig234]

Why isn't just making a great game and profiting by selling it enough, without a scheme for making even more money with itemization supporting a money extractor auction?

They could just implement the auction for no extra cost for players who buy the game; but now they have an itemization incentive to make it drive auction transactions.

 

[gothamhunter]

Meh.

 

[Deaner3D]

does anyone know if accounts will expire? When you bring RL money into the equation expiring accounts might engrage some people.

 

[Newbian]

does anyone know if accounts will expire? When you bring RL money into the equation expiring accounts might engrage some people.

The problem is you are not paying for the game to keep your accounts active like in a mmorpg with a monthly fee but instead paying another person for some items so it should be up to the player to make sure this does not happen.

But I googled it and it appears they do not expire.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Why isn't just making a great game and profiting by selling it enough, without a scheme for making even more money with itemization supporting a money extractor auction?

They could just implement the auction for no extra cost for players who buy the game; but now they have an itemization incentive to make it drive auction transactions.

because supporting a game costs money.

 

[badb0y]

People bought items in Diablo 2 anyways so this just legitimizes it. I don't see the problem here.

 

[Craig234]

because supporting a game costs money.

Normal PC games pay for support from the game price and don't gouge like this.

 

[Craig234]

The problem is you are not paying for the game to keep your accounts active like in a mmorpg with a monthly fee but instead paying another person for some items so it should be up to the player to make sure this does not happen.

But I googled it and it appears they do not expire.

If they make chars/accounts expire like they did in Diablo II, I'll definitely be putting off a purchase, that was my least favorite thing about that game.

 

[StrangerGuy]

People bought items in Diablo 2 anyways so this just legitimizes it. I don't see the problem here.

Ditto. The only people that should be complaining are those third party sites because they can't scam people anymore.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Normal PC games pay for support from the game price and don't gouge like this.

diablo2 had patches coming out continuously for like...9 years. how many games do you think can honestly have that level of support without some sort of additional financial mechanism?

 

[Craig234]

diablo2 had patches coming out continuously for like...9 years. how many games do you think can honestly have that level of support without some sort of additional financial mechanism?

Diablo II did. But like I say - charge for THOSE if needed as expansions.

 

[drebo]

Diablo II did. But like I say - charge for THOSE if needed as expansions.

No one is forcing you to use the RMAH. Don't want to spend any more than purchase price? You don't have to.

However, the people that do want to or that want to profit from those that want to are going to do it whether it's through Blizzard or not. Using a Blizzard-endorsed service protects both the buyer and the seller.

This is a good thing. It's also optional, so if you don't like it, ignore it.

 

[Craig234]

No one is forcing you to use the RMAH. Don't want to spend any more than purchase price? You don't have to.

However, the people that do want to or that want to profit from those that want to are going to do it whether it's through Blizzard or not. Using a Blizzard-endorsed service protects both the buyer and the seller.

This is a good thing. It's also optional, so if you don't like it, ignore it.

You're missing my point, these 'optional' designs tend to affect the gameplay and design for those who don't use them as well - even if only where the focus is in gameplay.

The legitimate point you make about the benefits of having it work through the game are just as valid if Blizzard didn't charge for them, as I mentioned.

The only reason I see for Blizzard to charge for them is a form of gouging.

You don't have to buy expansions in MMO's either, but how fun are they if you don't get it and the other players are running around with higher levels in new places and gear?

If Blizzard makes a lot of money from it, the game will likely be designed to fit that.

The only reason I've seen posted for them to charge is that it makes Blizzard money.

 

[DeathReborn]

does anyone know if accounts will expire? When you bring RL money into the equation expiring accounts might engrage some people.

I think it's tied to the battle.net account which does not expire, so even if you stop playing D3 for a year+ your money would still be earning Blizzard interest until you transfer it to Paypal (and pay the fees). You may still lose characters but not the base account & associated Blizzard Wallet.

 

[Udgnim]

Blizzard's RMAH just replaces the third party black market sites that would have come up if no RMAH existed

black market sites will still exist, but they won't be as prominent because the majority of people willing to buy/sell stuff for real money will be using Blizzard RMAH due to it being the legitimate choice and not having to worry about security

 

[LurkerPrime]

You're missing my point, these 'optional' designs tend to affect the gameplay and design for those who don't use them as well - even if only where the focus is in gameplay.

The legitimate point you make about the benefits of having it work through the game are just as valid if Blizzard didn't charge for them, as I mentioned.

The only reason I see for Blizzard to charge for them is a form of gouging.

You don't have to buy expansions in MMO's either, but how fun are they if you don't get it and the other players are running around with higher levels in new places and gear?

If Blizzard makes a lot of money from it, the game will likely be designed to fit that.

The only reason I've seen posted for them to charge is that it makes Blizzard money.

Last time I checked companies are out to make money. They could be charging you a $15 a month fee to play this, but they aren't. Servers aren't free, niether is the electricity to run them, nor the admins that are required. The RMAH is a way to help cover those extended recurring costs. Not only that, but it gives them an incentive to continually release new items/content to keep it going (which is a good thing for everyone, even people who don't use the RMAH).

The RMAH provides you with a secure, legitimate source to trade your in-game items for real money to a wide audience. You think that should be free? I'd love to know where I can do that right now and its 100% free. Sure as hell isn't ebay. Please step down from your entitlement pedistal.

 

[Craig234]

Last time I checked companies are out to make money. They could be charging you a $15 a month fee to play this, but they aren't. Servers aren't free, niether is the electricity to run them, nor the admins that are required. The RMAH is a way to help cover those extended recurring costs. Not only that, but it gives them an incentive to continually release new items/content to keep it going (which is a good thing for everyone, even people who don't use the RMAH).

The RMAH provides you with a secure, legitimate source to trade your in-game items for real money to a wide audience. You think that should be free? I'd love to know where I can do that right now and its 100% free. Sure as hell isn't ebay. Please step down from your entitlement pedistal.

There is no such thing as gouging.

Any time anyone says anything is gouging, correct them by explaining 'they are out to make money'. That disproves the possibility any policy can be gouging.

Very astute of you.

BTW, how did Diablo II pay for a decade of expensive online play?