DiabloFans

Quote from brx

Think for a second, if it was a lose-lose situation they would not have done it.

Blizzard is not perfect and they have been known to make mistakes (mostly in WoW).
Josh is a big D2 fan on one hand and a total newbie in running a game with online economy on the other hand, and my guess he simply needs to take off the D2 rose tinted glasses. And since he is currently riding on a high horse as the claimed savior of D3 (as opposed to Jay Wilson) he may have been able to hoodwink the finance guys in Blizz HQ to do that.

Quote from brx

Maybe they'll make more money selling expansions than milking the very few people left spending actual money on virtual good like idiots.

Selling boxes is not enough in today's environment. You gotta have a source of recurrent revenue as well. Which means either RMAH or cash shop.

Problem is, while a cash shop with transmogs and cosmetic items will totally take care of the recurrent revenue part, it will not take care of user frustration in trade channels. Unless of course, the plan is to make ROS like the console version where legendaries are raining on you and you can beat the game because you sneezed on the monsters. Which would be even more stupid.

Quote from brx

This is the only acceptable middle ground. No one enjoyed the ah, it was not a convenience but a necessity and made people quit the game.

Because getting scammed in trade channels will totally make people stay?

Also, of course it was a necessity, because of how the game was tuned in the first place. In D2, you could play self-found because the game was undertuned. In D3, you have much more difficult modes (e.g. Inferno MP10). Also, in D2, you had ladders to periodically remove items from the economy, which you don't have in D3.

What we need, consequently, is a way to remove items from the economy, not remove the AH.

Quote from nadenitza

Problem is everything revolved around the AH - trading and gameplay. You play for selling shit on the AH, to flip, snipe and farm gold so you can gear your char.

And in the same way, D2 revolved around trading channels. Was it better? I don't think so.
And again, the difference between D2 and D3 is not the trading methods, but the sheer undertuning of D2 because it was meant to be playable offline.

Also, the other major economy difference between D2 and D3 is the absence of a way of getting items out of the market, either through character death (for SC) or ladder (for D2). THAT is a fundamental problem.

Quote from nadenitza

Only a lunatic would go self found in that environment couse it's not meant for it due to the bad itemization witch takes the AH into account.

And a lot of people played entirely self-found in D2? Especially all those with high-end runewords? Everyone traded (and duped, and hacked).
And again, it is much more possible to play self-found in D2 because of its tuning.

Quote from nadenitza

Time spent in game means almost nothing especially till you get to inferno. It means nothing afterwards too if you don't get extremely lucky with a semi-good items... that you realize you need to sell on the AH to get gold to get gear... from the AH. Am blunt here but it's basically just that.

I understand your point, but that means AH needs additional fixes to prevent flipping and sniping. Removing it completely is basically recognizing that you're incompetent in game economy balancing (which Josh apparently is).

Quote from nadenitza

I don't follow the news and dunno if they have a different method to facilitate trading, if you take a decision of such magnitude you have a back up plan. Maybe they have something planned?

In this case, their communication was handled extremely poorly and someone should be hanged for that to make an example.

Quote from nadenitza

On the point of third party sites - well people should know better but who am i to judge? If they wanna use em let em use em, if they got their info stolen who's to blame? No one but themselfs.

Because people act totally rationally. Right.

Quote from nadenitza

Even with the AH, tp sites still run rampart and blizz does not seem waging legal war against em.

Of course they're not waging legal wars against them, since they're doing the same thing. However, if you remove the AH, they'll probably have to change the EULA accordingly and forbid selling game items and gold (although gold will be much less useful with such a model) for real money. And THEN they'll have to wage legal wars, exactly like they do with WOW gold selling sites.

Quote from rebjorn

I don't think they'd go to the step of announcing this in the first place, if they weren't absolutely sure they had an ace up their sleeve.

For recurrent revenue, of course they do - cash shop with transmogs and cosmetic items, custom dyes etc...
For trading, I'm not sure.

Quote from nadenitza

What does BOA has to do with third party sites and bartering?

You said BOA destroys trading. My point is that removing AH destroys it too, and has much more nefarious consequences.

Quote from nadenitza

If third party sites bother you so much then stop using them?

I don't use them. Problem is, a lot of people do. There will be scams in trade and on third-party sites, credit card numbers stolen, in short hell will break loose. Moreover, Blizzard will have to spend (like in the good old days) money on lawsuits against the said sites. From every economical point of view, it's a lose-lose situation.

Quote from nadenitza

The worst thing they [blizz] did was embrace their "metod" and sort of - legalize it ingame, now they fix that mistake. With or without BOA there will be third party sites that sell items, you can't fixt that. Even blizzard can't.

Sure, but if you have a secure environment provided, it looks much more attractive compared to some Chinese website.

Quote from nadenitza

BoA has no place in a diablo game. It simply destroys any form of trading. It's a lazy solution for a game like wow where your loot is handled in a plate.

So, BOA destroys trading but bartering and 3rd party sites don't? I don't follow your logic.

Quote from nadenitza

Bottom line was - the AH fucked up itemization and loot hunt. It was convenient, sure. But that convenience made the game not a rpg but an AH simulator. With the removal of it many core changes should arise witch in turn is what might fix the game entirely. I still can't believe it happening, woah...

And making more stuff (e.g. legendaries) BoA wouldn't be enough? Doubt it, frankly.

Quote from Bagstone

No worries, he earned over 9000 points on my respect scale.

Yes, people bartering with gems and buying their stuff on Chinese third party sites will be soooooo much fun. /sarcasm

*writes a bunch of [censored] stuff, deletes*
Josh Mosquera has just lost 95 points on my respect scale. Pity, he was looking much more promising than Jay Wilson.

Quote from Lehetetlen

So they are removing life steal and instead give joke and NON-SCALING LoH/ life regen/ shield values that couldn't absorb a sneeze from current MP1 level 63 fallen. Yet they leave the defense skills gutted with high CDs forcing for example CM Wizards to be the way to go because you are going to be demon food otherwise.

They will prolly nerf monster damage too. And CM will most likely get the nerfbat as well.

Quote from RasAlgethi24

Oh it will in some form or another. Blizz has said time and time again that they want to get rid of perma-archon and wotb. I hope they nerf CMWW as well.

Franlky, the problem is CMMW, not archon. WOTB allows permanent immunity to CC while archon allows permanent non-immunity to CC

I hope the archon nerf won't make it to live

Quote from CrsJames

Hmm looks like reforging a stat on an item will cost a durability?!

Yes indeed. Kinda makes sense, getting items out of the economy in this way.

Quote from falcompsx

there is no cow level. never has been, never will be. nope. none. :-P

There. Must. Always. Be. A Cow king!

My mind was just blown away by this post.

Oh, and:
" Prevent 100% of Arcane damage taken and heal yourself for the amount prevented."
Now I can afk in arcane sentries in Archon! \o/