ActivisionBlizzard WebCast Analyst Day
Feel free to join us in IRC to chit chat as well.
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.
"A little bit of grief from the gamer community..." Uh, yeah, a little, Rob.
Pardo on the cash-out system: "and that's where we'll take our percentage"
"Some players with a lot more time than money" - that's a cheery description of a chinese goldfarm sweatshop.
"Buybacks" means shoveling WoW cash back into the stuck to support Bobby and friend's massive options packages - much of which were priced way lower before the merger.
See how that works? Another Matisse on the wall.
Well, keep in mind though, keeping money virtual should encourage players to use it more frequently (either buying something from the blizz store or the RMAH); either way, Blizz gets a cut. You never need to dip back into your wallet so long as you continue to make smart moves on the auction AND are able to absorb the Blizz fees.
As someone who works in the bond market, I find the potential here really interesting.
Unless you are talking about the third party charges which Blizzard wouldn't control.
it would be really good to know which third party they are using then we may be able to figure that number.