Diablo 3 Cash Auctionhouse

[Pazzolupo]

So...I was reading about how Diablo 3 will NOT have a cash shop. It will however, have a cash auction house. Essentially it will allow people to sell the items they find in the game on this auction house for real money. Blizzard themselves are not selling them, though they do take a flat rate for each item posted and another fee for each item sold.

Article Here

Something that really made my head spin was at the end in a section about gold farmers.

“What’s the difference between a player that plays the game a lot and a gold farmer? They’re really doing the same activity. If you are doing an activity where all you’re trying to do is generate items for the auction house, you’re not making someone else’s game experience poorer.

In essence they are indirectly employing the gold farmers and item sellers and collecting a flat fee on everything they sell. It was rampant in Diablo 1 & 2 with third party item shops, so Blizzard decided to make it legal in the game....thereby turning the gold farming assholes into cash cows for Blizzard.

What does this do for future games and MMOs if anything?

[Scarybooster]

I'll have to see how this unfolds. It looks like a good opportunity for gamers to make cash but also to employ more farmers to leech off others. Will we see gaming sweat shops in america and Europe now?

Right now D3 just went to the bottom of my must have games.

[Vejuz]

Considering Diablo 3 is an "instanced" game, Blizz is actually correct in their presumption of no harm (IMO); however, in an open world game, this sort of thing would be BAD BAD BAD. I need to think this through, but my gut reaction is to oppose this as a "slippery slope" that will inevitably infect the entire genre.

As far as this effecting how badly I want the game, it's a net result of no change. I don't really play Diablo games seriously enough to ever consider forking over real cash for items. I intend to play it through the story like I did D2.

[Rer]

I need to think this through, but my gut reaction is to oppose this as a "slippery slope" that will inevitably infect the entire genre.

All that need be said really. In D3 itself, honestly I don't really care, I'm not going to be playing D3.

In an MMO, well, I dunno, there are some parallel's that could be drawn to other games but I'd still probably be adverse to it.

[Vejuz]

A few other relevant details from the article:

- No offline mode. You must have a persistent internet connection to play.
- You get a certain number of real cash auction house listings at no cost per week
- There is an in-game gold auction house as well.

Whether I like it or not, the idea is fascinating; definitely gonna keep my eye on this one. It's not actually a wholly new idea either; if memory serves, Everquest 2 did this a while back.

[Pazzolupo]

So, here's kinda how I feel about this cash auctionhouse..


Blizzard says:

[Slurm]

This news has made me heaps more excited for Torchlight 2.

[GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth)]

This would probably bother me more if I was a PVP'er in this type of game, but I'm not.
I liked playing through D1 & D2 solo, and with private co-op groups, and if that option remains in D3, then I will still buy it. I honestly haven't read anything about the new game though, so I'm just hoping that capability is there.

[Coolit]

I see no problem with this news. D2 was out of control with unauthorized selling of items, might as well make it official. It's also going to make rare drops more exciting.

[Winin]

I loved D1 for the dungeon crawl. D2 was a lot of searching around big open above-ground maps, and I never got far in it. I haven't looked at D3 much. From what I've read about this ebay-style system, it seems fine. Someone compared it to a trading card game, where you can buy/sell/trade gear with other players. Might as well let the game dev make the money off of that, rather than 3rd party sites. I'd never trade via a 3rd party site, but I would through the game dev. Well, I wouldn't actually use it, but if I were the type to use it, I'd only use it if run by the company.

[Vejuz]

This FAQ on the Escapist is extremely thorough.

www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/misc/9047-Auction-House-FAQ

[Rer]

Figured I'd share, this is the CEO of ShatteredCrystal.com (HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE Time Code Seller for MMOs)

[Vejuz]

That was pretty fascinating. I was not expecting him to be in favor of the RMAH, since Blizz is basically taking a % of profits he would have made. He makes some interesting points.

I'm still wary of the "What's good for D3 isn't good for the entire industry, but the publishers will force it anyway the moment they see money flowing into their pockets" aspects, but I still think it isn't a bad thing for D3, because D3 isn't an MMO.

[Slurm]

I had to stop around 6 minutes because he says "and" about 5000 times yet still hadn't got to his point.

I'm more aligned with the sentiment from Garnett Lee (Weekend Confirmed/Shack News). Even though he was quite the drama queen on the podcast about it, his thought was essentially that the promotion of using real world cash to buy in game items is an acceptance for the player to cheat themselves out of part of the experience.