This week the Diablo 3 Real Money Auction House will be open to both customers in the US and across Europe, but even at this early hour it's causing a stir amongst the community.
There's also the question of whether incorporating a currency into a game is a good idea at all. No one appeared to ask for it, but does that mean it won't be fun?
CVG opens its panel to two of its journalists to debate the issue.
CYNICAL
says Andy Kelly, Future Group Games Editor
But just because it's smart doesn't mean it's a good thing. It actually has the potential to break the game in places - especially the new PVP arena mode, which will be included in a future patch.
The power of your character isn't dictated by your own skill (it's just clicking, after all), but rather your gear. So if a player spends $250 on the best magical hammer and suit of armour in the game - and they undoubtedly will -they'll be severely overpowered.
The RMAH could also adversely affect the regular auction house by inflating prices, causing problems for players who rely on it to keep their gear up to date. To be fair, Blizzard have put a few systems in place to stop people exploiting it. Selling gold, crafting materials, and gems comes with a 15% 'Blizzard tax' to stop people selling unfairly large stacks, and gold can only be sold in quantities of 100,000 or more.
But anything that involves real money on the internet will somehow be taken advantage of. Criminals are too smart and too tenacious. They'll find ways to turn the thing on its head and cause problems. There are already cases of people having items stolen. Stick a monetary value on said items, and the desire for thieves to nick them gets even stronger."
SMART
says Rob Crossley, CVG Associate Editor
But I think it's a tad premature to suggest the team at Blizzard will destroy the game experience - something which it spent years meticulously developing - just for the sake of a fast buck. What you can be sure of is that Blizzard knows the RMAH must be an enjoyable addition for most people otherwise it simply won't survive.
Any free-to-play games studio worth their salt will tell you that taking a hard-sale route on virtual items is not just bad for the experience, but also bad for business. Those that fear a pay-to-win trend will seep into Diablo 3 should be assured that, if this were to happen, the logical outcome is that people will simply be put off by the whole experience and spend their time elsewhere. 'Retain all customers' is a policy which Blizzard executives and developers are routinely drilled on. The rules have changed slightly: Losing Diablo 3 players is something the company will have to balance against how much more money it makes per paying customer. But the general rule is simple - the system itself cannot work unless it is agreeable, even fun, to most people.
You can be certain that the Real Money Auction House will be tweaked, balanced and continuously assessed to make sure that those who oppose it are a vocal minority."
Comments
9 comments so far...
Imaduck on 13 Jun '12 said:
They should be tried for rape as far as I'm concerned.
RandomBrony on 13 Jun '12 said:
Real world trading has been around for awhile, and now Blizzard are just getting their foot in the door.
They're fighting fire with fire, and it's pretty pathetic imo. Especially when you take into consideration the huge cut they take (15% + $1, or another 15% if you take it to an external currency handler, such as PayPal)
They're just being greedy at the end of the day.
hi0marc on 13 Jun '12 said:
Well...
1- Game commodities being stolen are often tried in courts as real monetarily valued items, so this idea of virtual objects holding real value is now normal, pretty much.
2- Isnt it surely a good way to get a quick profit from playing the game, finding a nice bit of kit and selling for £30 or whatever, nice reward and motivation?
3- Is it not possible for the developers to buy all of a certain item worth £5, make it non existent and thus rare, driving the price up to £50 and then make some serious cash on it being sold and influence their world in a way they want? Anyone could do this theoretically, but i cant work out why most would try it.
Sangor on 13 Jun '12 said:
This is the first time I've been disappointed with a Blizzard game, I can clearly see Kotick's influence with the RMAH.
rmorgan779 on 14 Jun '12 said:
my dissapiontment with this game due to greed knows no bounds i will never touch another blizzard product
Medven on 14 Jun '12 said:
The RMAH was the main reason i stayed away from Diablo 3.
Blizzard appears to be at war with the plethora of Power-leveling and Gold-selling sites which spawned en mass with the explosion of popular MMO's. It's logical to assume that a board meeting was called with its top agenda being " How to murder the gold sellers " and this was the end result. It puts a heavy harness on the market and brings it firmly back into the remit of Blizzard......for now.
But soon the internet will be awash with sites selling cheap D3 items, full sets of armour for less than the RMAH price and rare items aplenty thanks to the powers of botting/hacking and general douchebaggery.
I do not want to fall prey to this game only to find myself hitting a glass ceiling since i refuse to pay my RL money for in game items. This is something which becomes all too apparent when you reach the end-game for MMO's and your peers who paid out are now leaps and bounds ahead of the general population. While i appreciate this is mainly a solo game the multiplayer features are on their way and it seems like the RMAH is flinging open the doors to an unbalanced arena.
only_777 on 14 Jun '12 said:
I think what it comes down to is this.
FACT: RMT will exist with or without this style of AH.
Just look at any WoW, people just use Chinese gold sellers to get the cash they want. So what this comes down to is safety. Better to deal with Blizzard than some group like gold4guild.
I'd rather no RMT what-so-ever, but that's not going to happen so stop dreaming. This is the better of two evils.
Reamaj on 18 Jun '12 said:
I find it funny the amount of people complaining about RMAH, yet the only thing they complain about is how much of a cut Blizzard are taking. I for one bought the game for fun, and am getting exactly what i wanted simply by playing the game.
Most of us bought Diablo 3 because we loved the original Diablo games and there was never an auction house before and I for one think it is a nice touch, but don't thik it is going to really be as big of a thing as people are making out.
Yes it can be annoying when you spend so much time playing and cannot find that one piece you like, but you just keep playing til you can, or try crafting an item.
Anyone spending stupid amounts of money to get the very best gear right from the beginning is going to lose all the enjoyment of finding that amazing item to replace your existing gear, or is foolish enough to think they can make their money back by now farming items to sell on.
What is really going to happen is that the amount af people willing to spend silly amounts of money will run out as they get all the items that they want, sellers will then undercut each other as the supply starts to exceed the demand and the entire market will steadily drop until eventually people are paying a couple of pounds for a good item, and maybe up to £20 for a truly amazing piece.
Once the market gets to this stage many people will take a look at how little they would actually make selling an item and for the most part, keep their money on their battle.net account and the only real money being spent will be on gold, as people who are either new and/or short on time, decide they would rather spend a couple of pound to give them a quick boost rather than spend hours farming it themselves.
Blizzard have always spent their time looking long term and I think that what they are really looking for from the auction house is a small, steady and most importantly, cheap trade system, that won't completely eradicate illegal, but simply make it so unprofitable that they go looking elsewhere to make their money.
The current ridiculous prices simply are not sustainable and are being driven only by a couple of enthusiasts with too much money. No big company, let alone one as succesful as Blizzard, is going to risk basing their business strategy on that, when they have a game who's predecessor is still being played 12 years later.
chewy001 on 24 Feb '13 said:
I think its a brilliant idea for games to implement a system like the RMAH. It gets some gamers involved in the game that wouldn't normally and gives dedicated gamers a chance to profit from gaming. There is an excellent gold guide at
http://www.mmo-strategy-guides.com called Diablo 3 Billionaire. I've been able to make good money using its strategy and love playing Diablo 3 because of it.