21 replies to this topic

[Boubouille]

Diablo III Currency-Based Auction House Beta Testing

UPDATE

Official Blizzard Quote:

In order to fully test the currency-based auction house, we decided to wipe all characters in the Diablo III beta. This includes gold, achievements, followers, and artisans. We apologize for the lack of notice.

Please don't be alarmed by an empty character selection screen. That isn't an error.

Thank you for continued testing and feedback, and thanks especially for your help testing the currency-based auction house.

Official Blizzard Quote:

As part of the ongoing Diablo III beta test, a trial version of the currency-based auction house is available for players to begin using within the beta. Testers will soon receive 50 Beta Bucks to test the buying and selling of in-game items. The gold-based auction house will be inaccessible to testers during this phase of the beta test, and any currently listed auction items will be returned to the seller. For more information, please read the FAQ.

Screenshot of a search using the Real Money Auction House

Diablo III Beta Currency-Based Auction House FAQ

Q. What are you testing?
In order to make sure that the currency-based auction house is ready for the release of Diablo III, we will be providing each beta participant with virtual currency to test the buying and selling of in-game items. This will allow us to assess the way the auction house is used, identify bugs, and test the transaction fees.

Q. Why are you testing this now?
As we approach the release of Diablo III, it's very important that we make sure the auction house meets our highest standards. We're committed to providing a secure, user-friendly service, and this test period is an important step toward meeting those goals.

Q. What happens to my current auctions on the gold-based auction house?
Any current auctions will be canceled and the items returned to your stash.

Q. Can I still use the gold-based auction house during the beta test?
Initially the gold-based auction house will be disabled to focus player trading within the currency-based auction house. The gold-based auction house may be re-enabled sometime later on during the beta.

Q. How much money will I get to use?
All beta testers will be provided with 50 Beta Bucks.

Q. Is this real money? Will I be able to cash it out?
The 50 Beta Bucks are being provided as nonmonetary virtual currency for beta testing purposes only. It will not be possible to cash this money out or to utilize it for any services outside the Diablo III beta test.

Q. What if I spend it all? Will I be able to get more?
We may provide additional Beta Bucks at a future point in time during the beta test process.

Q. Is there a limit to the amount of Beta Bucks players can earn in the beta?
Currently, there is a limit of 500 Beta Bucks for the currency-based auction house beta.

Q. Can players trade gold using Beta Bucks during the beta test?
No, players can't trade gold for Beta Bucks during this phase of the beta test.

Q. If you wipe characters, will you restore our Beta Bucks balance?
In the event of a character wipe, we expect to provide players with another 50 Beta Bucks for currency-based auction house testing purposes.

Q. What are the auction house fees?
During the Diablo III closed beta test, the Seller will incur a 0.15 Beta Buck listing fee and a 0.65 Beta Buck fee per successful transaction in the currency-based auction house. These numbers are not final and are for testing purposes only; they're subject to change.

Q. Will we still get free transactions?
Yes, players will be given a set number of free listings per week. In cases where these listings lead to a successful auction, the transaction fee will still apply.

Q. Will the fees we see in the currency-based auction house beta test be final?
As part of the beta testing process, we will be assessing the final auction house fee structure. We'll provide more information at a future point in time.

Q. Will I be able to access the auction house with a mobile device or through a Web interface?
No, during the beta test the auction house will only be accessible through the game client.

Q. Are these transactions secure?
With the Diablo III auction house, we aim to provide a safe and secure experience to all of our players. We strongly recommended that players utilize a Battle.net Authenticator (either Mobile or the physical authenticator) as an additional layer of security. For more information on account security, visit our support page or view our YouTube video.

Q. Are other currencies available in the currency-based auction house beta test?
The only currency used for this test are virtual "Beta Bucks" that don't have any monetary value and do not equate to any actual currency. This does not reflect our plans regarding international currency operations.

Q. Will there be separate currency-based auction houses in each region during the beta test?
No. For testing purposes only, there will be a single, global currency-based auction house for the duration of the beta.

Q. Will players be able to use mods to "snipe" my auctions out from under me?
Diablo III does not support mods and they are strictly prohibited.

Q. Will I be able to use the currency-based auction house while in Hardcore mode?
No. Hardcore mode is not implemented in the Diablo III closed beta test. When Diablo III launches, players who choose to take on Hardcore mode will not have access to the currency-based auction house. Hardcore players will be limited to buying and selling items from the gold-based auction house.

[djxt22]

Fascinating! Let's see if this is the key for the release date   ;)

[Trombone]

Oh yes, been anticpating this! Time to farm rares hard.


Edit; [color=#A18E73]Oh, it's not on the beta yet. :([/color][color=#A18E73] [/color]

Edited by Moxx, 01 December 2011 - 06:44 PM.

[CherubDown]

I'm curious to see how many people actually spend money on items that will be whiped anyway. ROFL

[Trombone]

[quote name='CherubDown' timestamp='1322764878' post='712918']
I'm curious to see how many people actually spend money on items that will be whiped anyway. ROFL
[/quote]

No one, you can't top up your beta bucks balance manually, only Blizzard can as far as I can tell. You can't cash them out either, so you aren't gaining or losing anything.

[Frostwreaker]

They cannot charge money on the account. That's why blizz is giving 50Betabucks =)
Or at least that would make sense ^^'

[CherubDown]

[quote name='Frostwreaker' timestamp='1322765229' post='712921']
They cannot charge money on the account. That's why blizz is giving 50Betabucks =)
Or at least that would make sense ^^'
[/quote]
Oh I see. Reading is always a good thing to do.

[Stev89]

Interesting they chose .15 listing and .65 successful transaction .80 a sale is quite a bit obviously this is experimental to see how many sales they make. on a 10 Beta Buck (BB) sale youd be charged 8% commision thats a lot and blizzard obviously put some thought into this number its not just random. I would love to see the market data pulled from this test since this portion of beta is clearly not for testing anything but how much to charge. So for the benefit of everyone in the community the beta testers should be trading like crazy so blizzard lowers the fees and we all win =D

I feel that .80 is too high for a transaction and must be lowered but its all speculation.

[Trombone]

[quote name='Stev89' timestamp='1322766134' post='712931']
Interesting they chose .15 listing and .65 successful transaction .80 a sale is quite a bit obviously this is experimental to see how many sales they make. on a 10 Beta Buck (BB) sale youd be charged 8% commision thats a lot and blizzard obviously put some thought into this number its not just random. I would love to see the market data pulled from this test since this portion of beta is clearly not for testing anything but how much to charge. So for the benefit of everyone in the community the beta testers should be trading like crazy so blizzard lowers the fees and we all win =D

I feel that .80 is too high for a transaction and must be lowered but its all speculation.
[/quote]

There's a problem with this, the beta bucks still aren't real money. They aren't worth anything, in fact they are worth less than in-game gold, because that's still something the player spent time earning. The beta bucks were just given to us, so they have no value, we don't feel bad about throwing them away, we just get them topped up. Therefore the transaction frequency and willingness to spend money with this currency is very unrealistic.
If we actually had to pay real money to test the RMAH, no one would be buying anything at all because all the items will disappear when the beta ends. Therefore the only thing they can feasibly test is the functionally of the system, but not how much it's used. That statistic will simply not represent reality. People treat their hard earned money differently than fictional cash that was just handed to them.

Edited by Moxx, 01 December 2011 - 07:12 PM.

[HabeasPorpoise]

[quote name='Moxx' timestamp='1322766676' post='712934']
[quote name='Stev89' timestamp='1322766134' post='712931']
Interesting they chose .15 listing and .65 successful transaction .80 a sale is quite a bit obviously this is experimental to see how many sales they make. on a 10 Beta Buck (BB) sale youd be charged 8% commision thats a lot and blizzard obviously put some thought into this number its not just random. I would love to see the market data pulled from this test since this portion of beta is clearly not for testing anything but how much to charge. So for the benefit of everyone in the community the beta testers should be trading like crazy so blizzard lowers the fees and we all win =D

I feel that .80 is too high for a transaction and must be lowered but its all speculation.
[/quote]

There's a problem with this, the beta bucks still aren't real money. They aren't worth anything, in fact they are worth less than in-game gold, because that's still something the player spent time earning. The beta bucks were just given to us, so they have no value, we don't feel bad about throwing them away, we just get them topped up. Therefore the transaction frequency and willingness to spend money with this currency is very unrealistic.
If we actually had to pay real money to test the RMAH, no one would be buying anything at all because all the items will disappear when the beta ends. Therefore the only thing they can feasibly test is the functionally of the system, but not how much it's used. That statistic will simply not represent reality. People treat their hard earned money differently than fictional cash that was just handed to them.
[/quote]
Moral Hazard

[Tyburn]

Look like they took down the main article.

[Forlornz]

Sign of the release. God damn it.

[Ardikus]

OoooOOoooOo beta bux!

[Verity]

I can still see the article at both http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4024156/Currency-Based_Auction_House_Beta_Testing-12_1_2011#blog
and http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/blog/3368502/Diablo_III_Currency-Based_Auction_House_Beta_Testing_-01_12_2011#blog

[Trombone]

here too: [url="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4024156"]http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4024156[/url]

[Tyburn]

Yep, they recreated it.  The original article's comments are gone, not sure if there was any actual change to the article.

[KilltroX]

http://www.diablofans.com/topic/31896-blizz-q3-transcript-qa-transcript/page__p__706061#entry706061

Yeah I was right! At least halfway...It's not to boast but if you think about it in a practical matter, it was kinda obvious how Blizz would test the RMAH...and I'm not myself tonight btw. BOOM.

Anyway Blizz self will probably test the real RMAH incorporated with Paypal, cause they can't afford any sort of bug/glitch for the RMAH...people's money us at stake. So yeah, at least 1 month's testing of the RMAH through beta players, but I think Blizz has obviously been testing the Paypal aspect some time before. Boom!

[macman90]

I also think they've been testing it internally.
One month of testing looks to me a little too much, but what I know? It's certainly looking that they want to test the hell out of it, so beta testers... TEST!

[Benegesserit]

Someone is still going to create an application that accesses the web (or mobile) interface of the AH when it goes live and snipes that way. You just won't be able to do it in-game.

[Asynchronic]

I think the most interesting part of this is that Hardcore players will be limited to buying and selling items from the gold-based auction house. Is this a new development?

I was thinking that selling HC items on the RMAH would be the best way to make $. But I am still glad to see it won't be available. Truly hardcore.