DiabloFans

Right you are, my bad.

I saw this image along with the new inferno difficulty and thought to myself, 'finally some high tier armor screens for DH.' As I took it in, I couldn't help but think that if I had to choose between the three, I would easily pick the far left.

I think this is a pretty clear case of 'less is more'. Yes the armor looks more and more epic from left to right, but I wish they could get off this trend where everyone eventually looks like a member of KISS. I know a lot of people will argue that the far right looks 'bad@$$' and while I agree, when I scan across the three iterations I can't help but feel that I am looking at at least two completely different classes.

I could be wrong but it is my understanding that where you buy your game copy determines your server region. If this is the case it will help with the Asian farmer situation. However, I am not sure if there is anything stopping them from intentionally purchasing North American copies of the game in order to play and trade in the American currency game. They might have to put up with more lag, but the reward may outweigh the hassle for them.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject can clarify.

Quote from TheHoof

Quote from palathos

I've seen one too many "If you don't like it, don't use it, simple!" posts. If only it were that simple we might not have anything to debate about. The problem with this line of reasoning is that even if people do not want anything to do with the cash AH it will have an impact on every aspect of the game's economy. If gold can turn into cash and vice versa then inevitably they will have an impact each others values regardless of whether or not someone chooses to not participate in the cash AH.

If there was a way for those of us who don't want the cash AH to avoid it altogether, I suspect we would have nothing to argue about to begin with.

There is a way for those who dont want to use the cash ah , dont use it " simple " whichever way the games economy goes wont affect those who dont use it.

I think you completely missed the point of my post. If the two AH systems were independent, you could make this claim. They are, however, interdependent. Even if I want nothing to do with the cash AH, my gaming experience will be affected by it. No one knows to what extent, but for some people just knowing that their gaming experience will be affected by how much real money is being pumped into the system is enough to make the game less appealing.

I've seen one too many "If you don't like it, don't use it, simple!" posts. If only it were that simple we might not have anything to debate about. The problem with this line of reasoning is that even if people do not want anything to do with the cash AH it will have an impact on every aspect of the game's economy. If gold can turn into cash and vice versa then inevitably they will have an impact each others values regardless of whether or not someone chooses to not participate in the cash AH.

If there was a way for those of us who don't want the cash AH to avoid it altogether, I suspect we would have nothing to argue about to begin with.

We can all be as certain as we like, that our particular perspective or view of economics is the correct way which the d3 cash AH will perform. Perhaps the details of the debate is not as important as how long the debate lasts. In the end, Blizzard must bend to the popular opinion if they want to make a successful game. So all of these predictions and applications of real world econ is a bit silly, since none of us are smart enough to predict how it will end up behaving in-game.

For some people it is as simple as, introducing a system which encourages using real money inside of a game is enough to dirty the sanctity of what it is to play a game to begin with. Are these people (myself included) wrong? No, so you can't tell them they are wrong by flexing your econ 101 muscles and telling them what idiots they are. On the flip side, the people who are in full support of the cash AH have every right to be. I just don't see how those people can be so confident in the success of a system which is still months from even having a chance to prove itself. Some of those in favor of the cash AH wisely recognize that the system is not guaranteed to work. However, many of these people go on to debate the subject as if there was no chance of failure/imbalance.

For some, the relative success of the cash AH is irrelevant. It is fairly hard to argue that we will be able to play the game using the gold AH exclusively and not gimp ourselves. I think we can all agree that we are more likely to see the best items, and more of them in the cash AH. This makes the people who prefer to "keep a game a game", feel pretty betrayed.

It is easy for some to blur the lines and abstract the concept of spending gold vs real cash, but for others, it is impossible for us to simply convert gold to real money to items without feeling as though the entire experience has been cheapened.

Bottom line, I say fight on for your own view no matter which side of the fence you are on. It is all we can do at this point, and it is the only way we can influence Blizzard to remove/keep/change the cash AH.

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I am glad someone finally consolidated many of the hopes and fears associated with these new developments, but I would like to add that Blizzard is directly inflating the prices of all transactions involving the cash auction house. Just because you never enter a dime of your own money into the system, Blizzard is profiting from this arrangement. In essence when you sell an item in the cash AH, you are working for Blizzard to sell a piece of their intellectual property for them. They reap the benefit on any and all transactions which occur with real money.

They have not yet divulged how much these posting/transaction fees will cost, but we cannot ignore that the cost, while possibly negligible in perception, is being increased due to 'Blizzard's take'.