First things first, you need to forget all you know about gold in Diablo. Gold doesn’t flow like an eternal fountain like it did in past games. Now gold matters; now you actually want gold. It’s not just a resource used for gambling, or a way to “punish” the players for dying. Gold has become the economic lifeline of Diablo. While item to item trading will also be a key element of the franchise, now you can actually trade an item for gold and not feel completely stupid for doing so. In fact, it may just be better to trade for the gold. But why? you ask. Or, at least, I’m guessing you did. But I can’t hear you. Stop talking to your computer.
There are three main reasons gold is good; the first is artisans. These crafters follow you throughout the game and make items for you as you progress. The blacksmith will smelt weapons and armor for you, the jeweler places and removes gems from your items, and the mystic binds magical effects to your loot. Together, they can create some gear that is pretty awesome. These items don’t come cheap though, and require a combination of salvaged materials and gold to make. Also, as you level up, you’ll want your artisans to level with you in their quality of items. In order for them to do this, you must pay to increase their overall ranking. By the time you reach Inferno difficulty and your artisans are the highest ranking they can go, Exalted, you will have dropped 173,800 gold altogether on them (63,900 gold for the blacksmith and mystic, 46,000 for the jeweler). That’s A LOT of gold, and it isn’t including how much you’ll spend when buying individual items from each crafter.
The second is the auction house. If you’ve played World of Warcraft, or have knowledge of the its economy, you understand that the auction house is pivotal to the game’s financial system. In WoW, as players find or craft items, they’re able to put whatever they want up for auction. Typically, as long as the item isn’t pure junk, it’s better to place the item on the auction house rather than sell it to a vendor (who will give you a fraction of what a player might). A similar system is being implemented in Diablo 3. You will be able to place whatever you find, and maybe craft—I haven’t been able to clarify this—up for auction to be bid on or bought by a fellow player.
While gold is obviously important because you use it to purchase auction housed items, one might argue that as the market becomes saturated, gold’s importance will diminish. Like-items will be bountiful and, as such, the prices for these items will be driven into the ground. Keep in mind, however, that while this can still happen, theoretically, the pace will be severely diminished due to players sometimes wanting “crafted items” rather than “found items”. In order to make a crafted items, players will need salvaged materials. To get these materials, players will need to break “found items” down. So as Item X becomes saturated on the market, players will realize they can’t make the money they once could off of it and, in some cases, will break Item X down into its crafting materials. This should, hypothetically, stabilize the market until an expansion is released.
Lastly, we have the fact that gold will be harder to come by. In past games, Blizzard rewarded players by “throwing buckets of gold at them. It felt great to do but the problem was that long term it didn’t really have any meaning.” (Jay Wilson, Blizzcon, 2010) Which is true. As a long-time player of Diablo 2, I can personally attest that gold was near-worthless after the first 20 or so levels. It could be used for gambling, and occasionally for repairs, but once you had a good chunk of change, it wasn’t important. It wasn’t an economic resource.
It would be similar, for instance, to if I had three apples. I can do a couple things with these apples: eat them, trade them, throw them at the homeless, etc. The main thing is each apple has value to me. I only have three so I need to “spend” them wisely. However, if I were given 10,000 apples, suddenly each individual apple becomes significantly less valuable. The point is, each apple would lose its significance, its importance. It’s a basic rule of economics: the more you have of something, the less valuable it becomes.
By restricting your incoming gold, and by offering more options to spend this resource, Blizzard has essentially made gold THE economy. I can see item-for-item trading still happening, but I don’t think it will happen nearly as much as item-for-gold trading. And why would it? When you trade an item for another, all you’re getting is access to that one item. When you trade an item for gold, you gain access to a plethora of items, from the loot on the auction house to all your crafted gear.
And that, my friend, is the power of gold.
- Rimuladas
- Registered User
-
Member for 12 years, 8 months, and 3 days
Last active Tue, Jul, 31 2012 14:18:01
- 0 Followers
- 25 Total Posts
- 0 Thanks
- To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
-
Dec 23, 2011Diablo3Haven posted a message on Diablo 3 Gold: Why Its ImportantPosted in: Diablo III General Discussion
-
2
Molster posted a message on A game mode with a lack of RMAHPosted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from CherubDown
Old debate is old, but still worth talking about I suppose.
I, for one, love the idea of Blizzard making money off of a system that is totally voluntary. It means they'll continue to support the greatest game of all time (Diablo 3) for years after the last expansion set.
It's a lot like how the lottery in Georgia stimulates the economy in a completely voluntary way (see this link). Those who wish to voluntarily take part in the RMAH contribute their small amount while possibly making a buck for themselves. It's win-win.
Pros:- Users can sell their items for real money while not having to put any money into it (free listings and Blizzard bucks).
- Blizzard makes some dough to support their game, which this fansite is dedicated to (a positive thing).
- No subscription fees!!!!!!!
- Someone gets the item of their dreams!
- Perhaps players feel the system cheapens the merit of item collection since anyone can buy the best item.
and the ting about the con, which people forget about. Is that super rare item (which, there were super rare items in d2, until duping) WILL STILL be super rare.
It does not matter if you can spend $100 dollars on the rarest item. Some person has to find that rare item first, AND choose to sell it. A rare item is still a rare item, even if people can buy them. SO if you get that rare item, theres no reason to feel cheated, as you will still be that unique looking player.
People for some reasons are thinking of this as if it was an item shop for a Free 2 Play game. If that were the case, id find it a little off myself, but its not, and thats the main issue. People just arnt thinking about it that way.
If 5 people in the world have rare item X, and one person buys it off the AH cause another sold it, 5 people still have rare item x. The item is not less rare, you are not cheated out of that sexy item. Its still just as rare, and you should still feel just as good about finding it.
The poster above me (falcompsx) put it like I see it tbh, though a little harsher than I would >_> -
1
Molster posted a message on A game mode with a lack of RMAHFirst off, buying something off the RMAH is not cheating, you need to get that out of your head now. It may be cheating to you, you may feeling using it cheats some of the game from you, and thats 100% fair way to think. But you can't go and say someone else, who is using whats built in, is cheating.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
As I pointed out in the the character buying thread, there are loads of reasons someone could want to buy an item for 100% legitimate reasons to them, who are we to say if that increases their joy of playing diablo 3?
For this system to work to its fullest, as I have already stated, they can not split them up like that. People, as I said, that don't ever wish to buy items, will still be selling them, thats a very important part about this system, and whats going to keep the economy going and at lower prices. (the more people selling/less buying, cheaper prices).
Next about the BOP thing, first ... you're calling him ignorant for believing a blue post on that subject... im not sure what to say there.
First, there were a few blue posts on it,then came the twitter response from bash to one of our forum members on the very subject of BoP items.
First check this out about BoP and BoE items http://www.diablofan...ms-in-diablo-3/
Then about 3 months ago bash did the twitter post I was referring to, saying how BoP would not help at all, and gave some rather good reasons. -
1
Designation15 posted a message on A game mode with a lack of RMAHPosted in: Diablo III General DiscussionAs an player I think anyone who is cheating doesn't deserve security. Why should I care if some cheater get's fucked up by a scamer ?
Who said someone who farms are better then someone who buy gear ? Like killing that bad AI mobs would be any pratice for an real fight. Some people who buy gears will be pro some will be noobs, some will be in between. RMAH only creats a need for additional gold spending if you wish to remain competitive.
Using real money is not a suficient condition for beign pro, it's a needed condition.
A real fight? What the hell are you talking about? Are you some WoW pro who has no fucking clue what Diablo is about or something? PVP is NOT a major part of Diablo, PVP is so small a part of diablo that the devs are outright saying they hold very little plans for future additions to the PVP arena. There is no ladder system, and there is no visible measurement of rank or abilities. So you can be as "pro" as you want and talk about how much of a noob someone is because they use the RMAH and how you are clearly better even though they beat you, but they only beat you because they are cheaters.
In this scenario I think "pro" means "idiot" -
1
Designation15 posted a message on A game mode with a lack of RMAHYou've already proved my point by dragging out the PvP of the game. Diablo is 99% PVE, and PVP is such a small portion that Blizzard even points out how little work they put into that aspect of the game.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
Also as stated before even if the RMAH wasn't there people would still use the third party sites to obtain the gear they want anyways. The only difference is when you buy through Blizzard you are getting it through someone you can trust, rather than using your money to an illegal means. So either you are too foolish to see, or you refuse to see that either way people will be doing it. Also if you don't already have gear on the same level as people using the RMAH then you won't be playing against them in PVP anyways. Blizzard already stated that people will have invisible numbers attached to their character based on level and gear. So if someone is buying all high end gear then you wouldn't face them unless you have similar gear yourself, and you would never know. -
1
Drkclone posted a message on A game mode with a lack of RMAHPosted in: Diablo III General Discussion
Why are you even talking about PvP? This is Diablo and it has been stated many times by Blizzard, that this game is PvE based and balanced. And you wont even know if they bought their gear off the RMAH or not. Remember there is still a gold AH.Quote from italofoca
1. The time it takes doesn't matter. I can still buy the best gear in in the moment and rule in PvP the same way.
2. You choose to ignore the fact that whos right or wrong actually matters. If duel someone and loose because he bought his gear, I actually didn't loose because he is cheating. In D3 being a purist (someone who is against cheat and buying stuff from others) does not provide a moral high ground... I can't contest someone's victory because his buying gear for third party sites, for example. So I've to buy gear from third party sites if I want to remain competitive.
3. You also choosed to ignore that BoE/BoP tecnology exist (and it was actually a idea that D3 design team liked for high end stuff). However at some point they decided to turn D3 into a trade card/miniature game were you really have to invest money if you want to remain competitive.
Seriously, if you guys really think you will be able to play in the high end PvP without spending extra cash, you're to naive and never played a game were stuff is traded with real money. You're also naive if you think it's not going to be frustarting to dump 300 hours in a game to get a achievement someone else can get in 20 hours if he choose to use his money.
And this is a question to all, is the gold AH considered cheating then? Cause you're buying gear that you did not earn in the Diablo way. -
2
DieHardBastionFan posted a message on A few ideas why the RGB situation is being swept under the carpetRed/Green/Blue in Skeleton King?Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion -
2
Heet_Crusher posted a message on Book of Cain delayed to January 10th? [Confirmed still dec 13th]Well it is Blizzard's lore and copyright and they choose who is to publish it. So bottom line it falls on their shoulders. I am just waiting for my money back and I will spend it on something else that is tangible, that i can actually have. And who can believe anything they state any more. Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. Well i just had all i can take. They can sell it to someone else when it comes out.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion -
1
Auluaden posted a message on Book of Cain delayed to January 10th? [Confirmed still dec 13th][/quote] . They have the items at the store... if you go there...and they dont... they know it...then... they know before they open..Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
[/quote] Gonna ignore the fact that I've pointed out twice that most food places order their proteins and vegetables, to point out that, YES, YOU FINALLY GOT IT, If You go to a store and they DON'T HAVE THE ITEMS, THEY KNOW IT BEFORE THEY OPEN. This book was set to release on the 13th. It should have been IN THE STORE BY THE 10TH. You think all the frozen patties burger king cooks for you are delivered on the very day you chow down on it? No. They're from last week's delivery. Even someplace with has high of a check average as the restaurant I work at gets most of their steaks a week in advance.... So we know we have enough. I made that example because I assumed it would be a pretty easy example to understand. Unfortunately, you seem to be taking it too literally, and assuming "That would never happen at a burger king!", to which I can only reply by saying "So, you're saying that Burger King has higher quality logistics and inventory workers than Amazon and IE?"
Also, you state that we don't know what the issue that came up was ...correct.. We don't... great communication on their parts there. -
1
Auluaden posted a message on Book of Cain delayed to January 10th? [Confirmed still dec 13th]Posted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from Polrayne
Quote from Molster
What lack of communication?Quote from Auluaden
Would you be this calm and complacent about other things, say, you get to the window at burger king and they tell you that you they don't know what's going on with your hamburger, but since you already paid, if you just wait a day or two, you'll be able to find out when you'll get it? Just saying. In this day and age, lack of communication is not a valid excuse. Sure, it's "just a book", but it wasn't "just a book" to the guy who wrote it, and honestly, some of the most historical documents were books. Not saying this is the declaration of independence, but still don't see a point to downplaying it as "just a book". Unfortunately, the lack of release means my book-date with a very cute, and very enjoyable chick has been canceled... since we were planning to meet up at the coffee shop and read it/discuss it. Now we have to move it to tomorrow, and find a new book. Disappointing to a very large degree, when you work 12 hour shifts and only get two days off a week... if you're lucky.
Amazon does not have the book, they tell you.
IE finds theres an issue, they tell us.
IE gives us another updating saying friday at the latest
IE give sus another update, saying its on its way to amazon.
And as soon as Amazon get its in hand, see what they got, Amazon will be telling us.
Your example does not work...if im at a BK...they have the content there... in house.. they are not relaying on other companies... so why would that even happen?
I think the point that they are trying to make is that all of this is happening, right now, TODAY - the day of its release.
If you are there, at that moment, your juicy Whopper is supposed to be delivered to your hot chubby hands and the poorly paid window attendant tells you:
- to wait because they don't have Whoppers
- BUT then someone from the back yells that they do have Whoppers
- then someone from the register says they don't have Whoppers, but they are on their way
- And a satisfied customer is walking out the front door with A JUICY WHOPPER in their hands.....
You might get a little pissy. They sell Whoppers at the drive thru window. They told you they will sell you one today. You get to the drive thru, TODAY, and there are no Whoppers. Sad day, wouldn't you agree?
That and they don't seem to realize that anyplace that serves cooked food does rely on another company. A food distributor. It's like a publishing company... FOR FOOD! - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
3