Diablo 3 - Loot for $/£/€

[pocahaunted]

So, apparently we'll be having a torrent of info on Diablo 3 released soon enough, but some German bros do not understand the concept of a NDA so there have been some leaks.

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7958319#post7958319

Now, everything's pretty much irrelevant except for this:

"Real Money" Auction House. You can sell and buy Items for Real Money. You have to pay fee to Blizzard for it. You can also use an Ingame-Gold Acution House.

I gotta say, this sounds pretty damn disgusting, even if I realize WHY they did it -- who cares, they're still going down a damn dirty, despicable road. If they manage to be successful with this bullshit, we can expect microtransactions to become even more mainstream as, apparently, developers love to copy Blizzard/Activision business models.

Isn't selling/buying in-game gold and character's a common practice in MMOgaming? Except that this time it's Blizzard getting money for it, not eBay?

Exactly, this doesn't bother me at all, since it happens on auction houses anyway. At least it's players getting/spending money rather than Blizzard getting/spending money. A downpayment to sell is not bad, and you could actually create a profitable business margin this way, if you're an enterpreneur. Now if Blizzard creates a "tariff" tax on each item, I might be disappointed... But one flat fee is not bad.

Random rune effects? That's a LOT worse. You'll still be able to find the same items on the regular auction-house for trade. I hope servers are location-specific, i.e. North America only, or else you'll be undersold by the third world.

Yeah, it's a flat fee, which is kinda good. Still, it happened in MMOs illegally and the fact that now it will be more accessible means that a lot more people will be using it. I don't really case anymore, though, as hardcore will not have this bullshit. What I'm really worried about is character customization which appears to have been thrown out of the window.

Well, there will be region locks, but anyone can buy a NA copy and play on the NA servers so Chinese farmers won't be going away. i.e. there's a retail lock, but no IP blocks.

 

[Paperclip]

It's only one step towards paying other people to play games for you. If that hasn't happened already.

It sure has, especially like here where people play in internet cafes.

 

[Konjad]

I WILL BUY IT ANYWAY


HAHA SUCK IT HATERS

 

[Spectacle]

I bet the auction house will be flooded with Generic Longswords of Trash +1 that some nub is selling because he just found one that was +2.

 

[Jasede]

I really don't care about any of those.

1) Being online constantly is my default computer state.
2) I hate mods, but even more so, modders.
3) This is probably the smartest move they have ever done. People that cry out for legalizing marijuana should be at ease that this is exactly the same thing.

*shrug*

 

[DragoFireheart]

The constant internet connection is meh.

So let me get this straight: I buy the game, pay a flat fee for selling items, and if anyone buys my item I can make real life money?

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

What usually happens when I get disconnected from the internets is me playing games more than usual.

 

[snoek]

Then why even bother playing? Diablo always was about the loot!

 

[MetalCraze]

Diablo also killed RPG genre.

 

[Konjad]

diablo is a great rpg

 

[PrzeSzkoda]

Diablo will make a great Facebook game.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Diablo also killed RPG genre.

In 1996?

Good to know you stopped playing RPGs since then! :D

 

[Xor]

Since I started playing Blizzard games with Warcraft 2, this is the first game that I'm not sure I'm going to buy.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Clever skimming money off the top like that

 

[made]

At this rate, even Torchlight might end up a more complex game.

What's left in terms of character customization at this point? Gear and runes. And with just 3 stats the itemization won't be all that exciting.

 

[Needles]

ITT: Blizzard going down the shitter.

I do kind of understand the €-auction house though. I mean, most of the trading in D2 happens on d2.jsp - with real money involvement. Blizzard just wanted a slice of the (shit-flavoured) pie.

But why the fuck force people to be online to play.... first no LAN support, then this. As if Blizz was suffering from piracy.


edit: also... “99.9% of the items will not be soulbound in any way.”
From 100% to 99.9%...this is a slippery slope if I ever saw one.

long story short:

 

[Zed]

Online requirement - I'm never offline, and if I am, I won't be using the computer basically.

Dollar AH - I'll probably make money off it? I don't know how it works. I'm spend more time with a game than the majority so I think I'll be one the people selling rather than buying. I would never buy, in any case.
Will probably play Hardcore anyway.

No mods - Good.

 

[Needles]

Dollar AH - I'll probably make money off it?

You won't, since you'll be competing with massively dumped prices - created by botting.


Also, before some retard chimes in:

But dude, Blizzard will totally prevent botting

no

 

[Excidium]

Seems like they are going to make it even more multiplayer focused than Diablo 2.

Enjoy your pseudo-MMO.

 

[Zed]

Dollar AH - I'll probably make money off it?

You won't, since you'll be competing with massively dumped prices - created by botting.


Also, before some retard chimes in:

But dude, Blizzard will totally prevent botting

no

I'll be farming Grandfathers and Windforces before the chinese noobs are even max level.

 

[Pika-Cthulhu]

Im confused as to why allow an Item AH in D3. For me, when not playing Hardcore, most of the fun came from finding items from killing mobs and boss runs, comparing that shit to what I had, then if it was a substantial upgrade, using it (checking what I was replacing to see if it was worth muling down) and then going out and killing more. The only gameplay mode where an Item AH would be best utilised, in my opinion, is hardcore mode, where you actually do want some decent gear so that you dont wind up a puddle and have to start again. I would make some safe farmer type characters (summonmancerolol) and farm up some okay shit to mule down to help my new toons get a slight edge at not dying.

I long since lost interest in D3, with its constant derping and herping an already simple game, and really couldnt give a flying fuck about it other than watch as idiots keep lining Blizz and Koticks pockets. But RMT is far from the worst part of the whole deal, taken as a whole, the AH just adds a diarrhoea gravy to the already heaped pile of feces.

At least the Chinese will get some money out of it, perhaps D3 can be used as a humanitarian campaign, to improve the life of a Chinese village, buy one item from the D3 AH a month. Tax deductible!

Still, its fun to watch a train wreck.

 

[Needles]

Dollar AH - I'll probably make money off it?

You won't, since you'll be competing with massively dumped prices - created by botting.


Also, before some retard chimes in:

But dude, Blizzard will totally prevent botting

no

I'll be farming Grandfathers and Windforces before the chinese noobs are even max level.

You:

Bot user:

 

[Shannow]

Diablo also killed RPG genre.

In 1996?

Good to know you stopped playing RPGs since then! :D

So consider: You get lung cancer now and it takes you another 6 years to die from it. Would "Lung cancer killed wormfood." be incorrect?

Disclaimer: Not taking sides, just pointing out an error in logic.

 

[MetalCraze]

I was referring to Codex's shtick of the yore about Diablo killing RPGs
I thought Wyrmy you'd remember

 

[zerotol]

Every time you think Blizzard can't sink lower, they impress me mightily.

without measure.

 

[Konjad]

why can you still post ?

 

[DalekFlay]

This part of the PC Gamer interview is really the worst to me:

PCG: Is there any way to make sure that people can’t bug you, though? To essentially replicate a completely single-player experience even though you’re required to be online?

Bridenbecker: There’s definitely a question as to how much an individual is participating in the community and how much you award them the option to say, “I’m no longer a participant.” I mean, the reality is that most people, when they’re in a game and they say that they’re busy, other players are going to respect that. If somebody happens to intrude, you know, it’s your friend. Just tell them, “Hey man, when I’m busy, leave me alone.”

BE PART OF A SOCIAL NETWORK OR FUCK OFF!

 

[Metro]

There are no skill points or talent trees at all, which marks an interesting diversion in the series. Cheng says Blizzard did a lot of testing, and found that the number of choices players made wasn't as important as which choices those were. "Would you rather have one percent bonus crit that you choose five times, which is a system that we could have gone with, or would you rather just pick one passive and say I'm good at critical hits?" asks Cheng. "Would you rather make 20 small decisions or three big ones? What we find, especially when it comes to defining your character, is that three big ones is more interesting and compelling."

 

[pocahaunted]

Yeah, their obsession with "being part of the community", "Diablo is strictly a co-op game" and "an invisible mode would detract from the sense of community" is insane. The last point irks me the most, though, I hate not having the option to avoid naggers when all I want is to brainlessly smack some NPCs for half an hour without having to interact with ANYONE. Why the fuck is a game developer actually trying to force the player to "socialize" with a supposed "community"?

Not to mention that Blizzard's games have the most despicable and immature communities imaginable.