319 replies to this topic

[kjolnir]

PhrozenDragon, on 03 August 2011 - 10:59 AM, said:

Judging by fan reactions so far however, it seems clear that many people are intent on exclusively using the gold AH regardless of the economic rationality to this. So long as that remains true, there will be use for both, and assuming that the people preferring gold will still want the best gear, the two have a good chance of reaching an equilibrium.

Maybe I'm being cynical, but something tells me that's right up there with New Year's Resolutions and the "I'M NOT GONNA BUY THIS GAME NOW" decree.  We both know those things have lifetimes measured in hours, at best.

I think the simple economic reality is going to be that people are going to HAVE to go to the RMAH for loot they actually want.  It's just too tempting to be able to make real cash on an item that is valuable, but not of particular use to you.  Even if you sell it for gold, how much sense does it make to have billions of gold sitting around which you're never going to use?  Sooner or later someone's going to see their huge pile of gold, and they're going to dump a lot of it for cash.  All they've REALLY done is just sell that original item for cash which they THOUGHT they were selling for gold.

If you're right about the Diablo Arbitrage Moneymaking Metagame (and I believe you are), then the PRICE between comparable items will be about the same on either, but that's another issue - there are no such things as identical items in Diablo, even among legendaries.  Those still have ranges of randomness to their stats.  

So, a player is trying to see the difference between one on the RMAH, one of the gold AH, toss in some exchange rate math to see if there is any absolute price difference, and then divine what the difference in stats are worth.  And, all the while, closing out one AH and opening the other back and forth, or at BEST page flipping between windows or tabs.  Seems like a "compare" checkbox would be useful here.

Or, you could just see two similar items on one AH, not have to do any conversion, and look at the difference in prices in the same currency.  You'd be able to do all of this on the same window, without having to bounce back and forth.

I just can't see a majority players who are playing an ACTION rpg sitting on the sidelines for even a spare minute to go through all that comparison mess.  I think the RMAH is going to win out, particularly for hi-end loot.

[CherubDown]

Doomscream, on 03 August 2011 - 12:25 AM, said:

http://us.blizzard.c.../presskits.html

The PressKit is finally available for downloading.

Nice.

[SpinPool]

Am I the only one who can't read the interviews inside the spoiler-tags? Tried Chrome, FF and IE. None of the Spoiler buttons work in either browser..

[mclarensmps]

Lioncash, on 03 August 2011 - 11:35 AM, said:

Selling VIRTUAL ITEMS. (Yes VIRTUAL, something that does not PHYSICALLY exist) for REAL WORLD money.

I would argue that any direct download software/game/movie/music/media is something virtual that does not "Physically" exist.

[sicyo]

Epsilemna, on 03 August 2011 - 07:06 PM, said:

Am I the only one who can't read the interviews inside the spoiler-tags? Tried Chrome, FF and IE. None of the Spoiler buttons work in either browser..

Might be a plugin requirement like flash or java. Not sure, it works for me.

[agresso]

dadish, on 03 August 2011 - 08:58 AM, said:

agresso, on 03 August 2011 - 08:37 AM, said:

kjolnir, on 02 August 2011 - 07:36 PM, said:

theSkaBoss, on 02 August 2011 - 07:12 PM, said:

The Rune system is awesome! So what if you don't know what you're getting? You certainly didn't hate unidentified items, did you? That's all this is.

Not really.  While nothing has been thusfar changed, what has been DISCUSSED is making it so:

1)  You don't know what a rune is until you socket it (no big deal)
2)  You can't ever socket that rune to another skill once you do socket it (big deal)

What this means is you won't know if the rune you socketed for Magic Missile is the one you ACTUALLY wanted for Arcane Orb until you socket it in Magic Missile - and by that point, it's too late, because you can't ever use it in any other skill but Magic Missile.  If runes weren't known until you socketed them and you could change them to other skills once they WERE known, nobody would really be issuing forth serious complaints about the change.

well... ye it's ducking annoying =/ But i think thats something that might change in a (hopfully) near future. But are they realy that random?? Can't one use a scroll to identify it?

http://us.blizzard.c.../runestones.xml Ther u can see what the runes dose to one skill of each character

Yes it shows what the runes do to each skill, but lets say you get your first lvl 7 rune and you want to use it on the skill "Ray of Frost" you have already a lesser Alabaster* rune in it and you like how it works and want to continue using it.

Now you remove the lesser alabaster rune and put in this "unidentified" lvl 7 rune into "Ray of Frost" and BAM! the rune becomes a Indigo** rune and your like wtf! Sure you can save/sell the rune or with the help of the Mystic go trough this process again. What I don't like is the randomness, you don't know what the rune will become until your committed (socked) they can have random affixes on the runes fine but IMO keep the classifications on rune drops so when you get a lvl 7 rune drop it will be one of them and then you can choose where you want to socket it.


*Alabaster effect "Enemies slain by Ray of Frost have a chance to leave an area of ice on the ground where they die, damaging other enemies if they move through it".
**Indigo - Wizard is surrounded by a swirling vortex of sleet, damaging any foes that come into contact.

[sicyo]

agresso, on 04 August 2011 - 05:24 PM, said:

dadish, on 03 August 2011 - 08:58 AM, said:

agresso, on 03 August 2011 - 08:37 AM, said:

kjolnir, on 02 August 2011 - 07:36 PM, said:

theSkaBoss, on 02 August 2011 - 07:12 PM, said:

I watched an interview with Jay Wilson and he said some comforting things about the Rune system.

See this youtube channel: http://www.youtube.c...orceSC2strategy

And this video specifically



Edit: Comforting being that it's still up in the air and they're rigorously testing it to make sure it is an enjoyable experience for the player.

I also loved that he said they made the AH and RMAH for the players, not try and "ruin" the gaming experience as some negative people have assumed.

Edited by sicyo, 04 August 2011 - 05:52 PM.

[Tamadragon]

"has no idea. How to feel about the RM AH,"

I can't believe they put that into the game. It makes me wonder what the drop rates will be since Blizz gets a "small" cut from each RM transaction being made.

[sicyo]

Tamadragon, on 05 August 2011 - 01:24 AM, said:

"has no idea. How to feel about the RM AH," I can't believe they put that into the game. It makes me wonder what the drop rates will be since Blizz gets a "small" cut from each RM transaction being made.

Did you watch any of the video interviews with Jay Wilson?

[Tamadragon]

sicyo, on 05 August 2011 - 01:30 AM, said:

Tamadragon, on 05 August 2011 - 01:24 AM, said:

"has no idea. How to feel about the RM AH," I can't believe they put that into the game. It makes me wonder what the drop rates will be since Blizz gets a "small" cut from each RM transaction being made.

Did you watch any of the video interviews with Jay Wilson?

That didn't take long for some one to throw that back at me... NOW, having read the statements mentioned in the previous posts, I'm  still not sure what to think and I KNOW for a fact I'm not the only one who thinks that the RL money idea isn't a good one. I didn't get much of a chance to watch video since my current connection is so-so.  I'm going to think twice about posting next time if this is the kind of response I'm going to get...

Now before the next person decides to respond to my post with a pointless, open ended, and VAGUE question. Yeah everyone's excited with making money in AH, there is a little thing us adults use in RL that has to deal with taxable income (a 1099) I might've missed a section on that. Do they have plans for on how this will work?

[Jackzor]

Official Blizzard Quote:

It is never too early to say --

Regarding issues like these, it is always best to take such questions to a personal, professional consultant.

[sicyo]

Tamadragon, on 05 August 2011 - 02:08 AM, said:

sicyo, on 05 August 2011 - 01:30 AM, said:

Tamadragon, on 05 August 2011 - 01:24 AM, said:

"has no idea. How to feel about the RM AH," I can't believe they put that into the game. It makes me wonder what the drop rates will be since Blizz gets a "small" cut from each RM transaction being made.

Did you watch any of the video interviews with Jay Wilson?

That didn't take long for some one to throw that back at me... NOW, having read the statements mentioned in the previous posts, I'm  still not sure what to think and I KNOW for a fact I'm not the only one who thinks that the RL money idea isn't a good one. I didn't get much of a chance to watch video since my current connection is so-so.  I'm going to think twice about posting next time if this is the kind of response I'm going to get...Now before the next person decides to respond to my post with a pointless, open ended, and VAGUE question. Yeah everyone's excited with making money in AH, there is a little thing us adults use in RL that has to deal with taxable income (a 1099) I might've missed a section on that. Do they have plans for on how this will work?

Sounds like you've got some personal issues there... I just asked a question.

I asked because if you had, you wouldn't have the same standpoint. The things he has said in the videos build confidence in what they are developing. I'm not going to transcribe the video for you, sorry.

Also, the people posting in dismay of the RMAH probably haven't watched the videos either, and are just coming on here and posting the first thing that comes to mind without trying to think outside the box.

Plus I figured it would have been obvious, not vague, because the post right above yours has links to the videos. Don't be so offended by a simple question, relax.

[PhrozenDragon]

kjolnir, on 03 August 2011 - 03:08 PM, said:

I just can't see a majority players who are playing an ACTION rpg sitting on the sidelines for even a spare minute to go through all that comparison mess.  I think the RMAH is going to win out, particularly for hi-end loot.

You could be right, even with the underlying forces at work the problem of comparison due to the huge array of different items to choose from could become a major hurdle. At this point it will all come down to the final UI, the actual amount of people willing to use the cash AH, and the amount of money flowing in. Because if too few people are willing to put in actual money there won't be enough currency avaialable to facilitate these trades. We shall just have to wait and see how these factors play out.

But it will be interesting

[Fuckinhank]

Concepticon, on 01 August 2011 - 07:09 AM, said:

Wow I am furious. I have not even read the full post ididnt even finish the notes. I read the auction house dot point, skipped to that bit and read the currency based bit. I'm furious that's so retarded! Now to have the best gear i must buy it. That's so dumb. There's no point to playing. Get lvl cap and purchase my items:(

Good god.. that's the silliest thing I've ever heard.. "Now to have the best gear I must buy it buhuhuhu.." no now you have the option to be lazy and buy the gear OR play through the game for the game experience and collect the best gear that way, as far as I see it no ones forcing you to buy the gear. I couldn't care less about the auction house, I think it's cool being able to earn a few extra dollars from selling gear and so on. And for the game itself, well it looks awesome and I can't wait.

[Nokturnalex]

Have none of you ever played guild wars? (Haven't seen anyone compare the way D3 skills are to GW)

The way the skill system is set up is pretty much exactly how guild wars set up their skill system. Except in GW you picked 2 classes a main class and a sub class then picked skills from each one in order to create your own hybrid character. You could swap skills in and out at the beginning of each instance. (And before you enter a pvp arena)But only of those of your 2 classes.

So if anyone is worried about the whole not adding to skills anymore, if you played GW you'd realize it's awesome and a great way to allow people to customize their character so everyone isn't just walking around with the same builds. The problem with D3 though is, there's no dual classes, so like someone said earlier, if you find a cool skill combo someone can easily just copy you granted they have the runes required to change the effect of whichever skills you've changed.

The only problem I see with it is the Rune+Skill System, if they do it right, it'll be a great way to make your character unique from everyone else, but if they do it wrong... everyone is just going to be a clone of one another just like in D2. (There was only like 3-5 builds max each class could even use to be viable for Hell difficulty)

As far as the RMAH (Zomg so much talk about it)
I personally played D2 as a single player and co-op game with friends. I didn't care less if people ran around with the best items in the game that they bought from some chinese farmer so I have no problem with it being used as a way to eliminate 3rd party distributors. If I want to PVP i play a game that is balanced for PVP, not Diablo 2 where my zon could just spam guided arrow off screen over and over with a piercing bow and know that noone could ever kill me. (I know this was eventually nerfed but still, it was extremely overpowered when it existed)

Just play a first person shooter or League of Legends/DoTa/etc if you want good pvp. I'm like 99% sure that PVP in Diablo 3 will be completely unbalanced so there'll be no point in it at all.

BUT

The problem I do see with RMAH is what other people have stated, EVERYONE, well like 90-95% of the population of the game is going to try to sell the best items for only cash. (I noticed this from a Browser game that also had a RMAH combined with an in-game gold AH) Basically forcing anyone who wants any of the good items to either farm it themselves or pay cash for it. While some might think "I got free time, I can just farm it myself" Loot tables are based on luck, so sure you could kill bhaal 100 times but he might never drop the item you want just due to really bad luck. Therefore, in order for hardcore players to get these extremely rare items they should be ready to drop some extra money into the game. I just hope blizzard has multiple items (lets say at least 3 for each class, for each armor/wpn slot) that are all best for certain builds that all have the same drop rate so you'll be able to at least trade/sell a different classes best gear in order to buy your own, because I'm pretty sure none of the best items are going to be sold for gold ever. Hopefully they'll have a diverse amount of rare but godly items and not just "1 Ring that rules them all"

If gold is ONLY used to "Gamble" (like in diablo 2) or only to get more stash slots it'll become an almost pointless in-game resource so cash will become the only thing to use to buy/trade rare items. (Why buy/use gold for only a small chance to get a good rare item when you can pay real money to get the exact item you want)

If the auction house works though, it's going to be a great way for hardcore gamers, even hardcore single-player/co-op only players to make some cash just for doing what they love to do. Gaming of course.

TLDR: How well they balance the game so no class/build/item is extremely overpowered will decide how good this game will be.

Edited by Nokturnalex, 07 August 2011 - 03:19 PM.

[dunhac82]

I was out of town, away from any internet access when this all announced and have finally caught up..Just wanted to say thanks for all of the coverage you guys did.  I'm sure it was a lot of fun, but I'm also sure it was a ton work.

[Je123321]

Scottehs, on 01 August 2011 - 07:28 AM, said:

So when does the Beta begin?

No release date yet

[Badrok]

what is this...? is it like a Diablo Spiral notebook? cause i would figure its not a pre version of the book of cain


http://www.diablofan..._190_151097.jpg

[Deventh]

Sixen at 14:58 you said that you took screenshot of the stash when you were there. Did i miss it somewhere or ?

[acourNeirrarT]

so you learned to add pics now?

delete me

Edited by Doomscream, 18 December 2011 - 06:57 PM.