ActivisionBlizzard WebCast Analyst Day
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11:15 - Mike Morhaime said that Diablo 3 would be heading into Beta "later this month," with the slide showing "Beta in Sept '11). Other than that, they talked a little bit about the Auction House plans, SC2 (Blizz DotA will be a new game mode!), and Cataclysm. They also showed a Demon Hunter teaser video to the viewers physically there.
11:20 - Rob Pardo talks about the Battle.net progression (from D1 -> D3) and the Auction House. This is the same presentation we saw at the Press Event in July.
11:30 - Pardo confirms that they will have a mobile/web interface for the AH post-release, as well as the ability to buy/sell characters.
11:45 - Pardo hands it off and Blizzard is done speaking.
11:55 - Thomas Tippl (COO and CFO of ActiBlizz) confirms that there will be a D3 Expansion within 3 years after the release of D3 itself, two SC2 expansions (which we already knew), and two more WoW expansions.
Agreed, however, perhaps they would want to go with a company that was untouched by the 3rd party sites that infected diablo 2. Would probably be easier for them to strike a deal with such sites even though paypal would be the most obvious (and probably best) choice.
That was a direct quote, written almost as he said it.
Sorry, that was unclear:
"and that's where we'll take our percentage"
He said it when the graphic had "- cash out" on the bottom of the screen, a couple of minutes into it. About ten minutes after the Machinima video posted above.
He was intentionally emphasizing that listing fees were flat, but the cashout had a % rake for bliz BEFORE paypal (or whoever's) fee.
Though he could be talking about the 3rd party... Also he could just be wrong. *shrugs*
I thought what he was saying - that Bliz will take a % rake of cashouts independent of paypal-etc fees - was crystal clear, and that he was taking pains to be clear in front of a crowd of FINANCIAL ANALYSTS.
But, again, if someone has the clip, please, prove me wrong.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Q: What’s Blizzard’s cut?
A: As with other online auction sites and real-world auction houses, our fee structure will vary by region. However, we plan to collect a nominal fixed transaction fee for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. The listing portion of the fee, which helps encourage sensible listing prices and discourage the mass posting of items that are very low quality or would be of little interest to other players, will be waived for a limited number of transactions per account. For players who opt to have the proceeds of their auction house sales go to their third-party payment service account instead of to their Battle.net account, Blizzard will collect a separate “cash-out” fee. Specific details regarding these fees will be announced at a later date.
this has been know since the reveal. Blizzard will not take any percentages in order to stop "certain" people to believe that they are doing this just to get money and will ruin their own game just to do so.
And, if you listen to Rob Pardo during the webcast today, he said they designed the system for gameplay first and that it will be completely driven by the player.
Rob was taking pains to make a distinction - flat fees to encourage volume yet discourage spam in the trading space, but a real % rake if you chose to cash out. He also talked about how much they hoped to discourage these cash-outs, and keep everything in the virtual bliz economy for products, other virtual items, etc.
Kind of like how the US feds take a big % rake if you withdraw from your 401K if you aren't old enough - they're just doing it in in your interest because they know what's best for you.
The line and discussion I'm talking about is about ten minutes after that clip ends, doom, as I stated. Rob spoke for almost a half hour.
If you disagree with what Blizzard is doing here, you can always spend your money elsewhere.
It doesn't matter what Bashiok or any other Blizz employ said or didn't said before. Pardo said theres a % to cash out now. Now > before.
To be honest, all this info is pretty fogy. We need some direct clarification. But the %fee to cash out doesn't sound unlikely or a miss interpretation, since, apparently, Sixen confirmed it.
If that machinima clip was 20 minutes or so longer, you would have it.
And the heavens shall tremble.
Seriously, where is this conversation going. If it is the same ol' Blizzard is a corrupt money monger, we can stop that now. If you would like to continue about the conference today, please fell free to continue.
Not for the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of chinese that will spend all day farming it or the tens of thousands of slavics that will spend all day hacking it. It will be a job. Hopefully a fun one.
sep·a·rate
1. to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space: to separate two fields by a fence.
This is what I understand:
1. Flat fee for item listing.
2. Flat transaction fee from sale of item.
3a. Money goes to you battle.net account.
3b. You choose to "cash-out" in which case Blizzard takes a separate percentage fee and money is deposited into the 3rd party account.
4. The percentage cash-out fee is to discourage cashing out so that battle.net funds remain in the closed loop system allowing for higher volume of sales from the AH / Blizz store. Meaning the more money they make you keep in the closed loop the more money they make.
We DO NOT know:
1. What the flat fees or the percentage cash-out fee will be.
2. If the 3rd party company for cashing out will even charge another fee. For all we know in the deal between Blizzard and them, Blizzard may pay the 3rd party site a fee for each cash-out. Think debit / credit card transactions. The bank charges x company a processing fee y volume of transactions.
Just my .02