Blizzard is bringing real-money auctions to Diablo III

Well, this should cut down on piracy a ton. I'm sure some folks will find some scheme where you can play by setting up a false server on your own machine but that's going to require more hacks on your own computer than I think most folks will be willing to make.

The online auction really worries me, though.

1. Legal issues. If I get some lucky loot, I might be able to make some real money. Does that make this like a new form of gambling? Also, how much money are we talking about here? If somebody gets paid $5000 for one of these items, governments are going to start demanding a piece of that. (Maybe there will be a maximum asking price?)

2. Hacker issues. There are going to be a lot of students and unemployed network engineers looking VERY hard at how they might be able to convince the system that they have a sack full of sweet items to sell - or better yet that they have sold a sack of sweet items to some poor schmuck who's user name/pw they guessed.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Well, this should cut down on piracy a ton. I'm sure some folks will find some scheme where you can play by setting up a false server on your own machine but that's going to require more hacks on your own computer than I think most folks will be willing to make.

To get the Ubisoft games to play offline all you need to do is put a file in the main directory.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
As far as the auction house goes, I'm all for it. I think it's a good idea to give people a legitimate avenue for buying and selling virtual goods. I can play the game and make money off selling loot that I dont want or need for my characters? I dont see a problem w/ that.

Can we read from players eager of buying items and tons of, so that gamers who are willing to make money from playing the game can make their dream come true?

Even with Blizzard taking their cut in the deal, it is a zero sum deal.

Would be nice to read players who are looking forward to paying back others'games, allow them to make money while playing etc…

The selling side is already hot, the buying side needs to manifest itself and tell their expectations.

Unless Blizzard has suddenly figured out how to secure Battle.net and prevent the rampant duping of items that was so common in Diablo I & II, I see the auction system as little more than a facilitated manner in which people can earn real cash for their exploiting.

And can someone tell me the point in outright buying a sought-after item in a game whose primary emphasis is to chase after that sought-after item?

Originally Posted by Drithius
And can someone tell me the point in outright buying a sought-after item in a game whose primary emphasis is to chase after that sought-after item?

Envy and boasting. They could just as easily played on a private server and given themself any item they'd like, but instead these brainless gamers spends their real savings.

Unless Blizzard has suddenly figured out how to secure Battle.net and prevent the rampant duping of items that was so common in Diablo I & II, I see the auction system as little more than a facilitated manner in which people can earn real cash for their exploiting.

There will probably be a rather harsh punishment for those who cheat, with an automated system in place (much like in Wow, where people have had their accounts suspended because of large & frequent money transactions (I don't know if they still do that, but when I played the game I heard several stories of people with guild bank characters on their accounts getting suspended)).

If you can't earn your success, then, as in real life, buying your success (+40 vorpal sword whatever) shows you up to be a fraud and cheat. One with no scruples. And a for a *game* company to provide the infrastructure to encourage cheating seems insane. Why even build challenge into a game? I think this stems from an obsessive desire to be the best at all costs - and now game manufacturers are encouraging this to bolster their revenue. Yet a another symptom of the 'instant gratification' culture. Wow, I'm pretty depressed now.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Unless Blizzard has suddenly figured out how to secure Battle.net and prevent the rampant duping of items that was so common in Diablo I & II,

I'm glad it never occured to me in the offline play (at least I never found it).

And yes, I even played LOD.

Originally Posted by ChienAboyeur
Can we read from players eager of buying items and tons of, so that gamers who are willing to make money from playing the game can make their dream come true?

Even with Blizzard taking their cut in the deal, it is a zero sum deal.

Would be nice to read players who are looking forward to paying back others'games, allow them to make money while playing etc…

The selling side is already hot, the buying side needs to manifest itself and tell their expectations.

Perhaps the developppper knows something that we dont? I wouldnt think they'd go to all this trouble to implement something in their game that actually causes the other two points of complaint (no mods, always online) if they didnt think good reason for doing so. If anyone truly knows or has the inside scoop on the "black market" demand for items in their games, I'd think that it would be them. Profiteering in MMO's is huge, there's an entire industry built around powerleveling, gold selling, etc.

You are thinking about this from what I consider a "respectable" gamer perspective, like others later in the thread and for the most part here on RPGwatch. You want to play the game, and have a challenge, that's the whole purpose for playing in the first place. There is, however a segment of the gaming population that doesnt give a rat's ass about any of that. They want to have decent weapons immediately and play on Ultra-Nightmare w/ their friends, and perhaps get the best soulbound loot that cannot be bought or sold. They dont care about earning jack shit.

And what about crafting materials? Runes, gems, recipes, materials, items, whatever. Some people would rather just log on and grab what they need to enhance or create the item they want instead of grinding and farming away. MMOs have shown us entire economies built around the auction houses, I dont see why it's such a far flung assumption to think that there will indeed be buyers as well as sellers in this particular market. Again, the developpppers are spending far more time and resources pondering and researching this, I'm thinking that they wouldnt be wasting their time on it if it wasnt going to go anywhere.

The taxation issue is going to be serious. You'll have international sales, subject to trade regulations of 2 countries at the same time. If you end up with people making significant money from this (I'd say this sort of thing would fall under the same rules as garage/yard sales, where you're supposedly limited to $500 in sales per year without paying taxes and potentially having to register - with all the fees associated with it- as a business), it could get really hairy. Blizzard will get pulled in, regardless of how they attempt to "disclaimer themselves" out of the process, and it will end up costing them some bucks or time investment (if the government requires them to track and report transactions).

$500? I wonder if they might put some sort of limit on your account? After you make $500 then you can no longer sell your loot. That would make for some serious deflation…

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
To get the Ubisoft games to play offline all you need to do is put a file in the main directory.

I'm betting for Ubisoft games it's just a DRM check. I would expect Diablo 3 will be keeping all the data it can on the servers.

P.S. "Diablo 3: it's not just an adventure, it's a job!" <smirk>

Isn't it reasonably safe to assume that Blizzard, with more resources than several deities combined, have already dealt with the legal ramifications internally?

Not that such a thing is a guarentee, but I'd have to say they'd be supremely stupid, if they hadn't paid some top legal people to research this and verify the legality issues and fortified themselves against potential grey areas.

People are talking about this as if Blizzard just made this feature up on a whim, and they're just hoping everything will fall into place.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Isn't it reasonably safe to assume that Blizzard, with more resources than several deities combined, have already dealt with the legal ramifications internally?

Not that such a thing is a guarentee, but I'd have to say they'd be supremely stupid, if they hadn't paid some top legal people to research this and verify the legality issues and fortified themselves against potential grey areas.

People are talking about this as if Blizzard just made this feature up on a whim, and they're just hoping everything will fall into place.

I think a lot of people are basing that possibility on the fact they did not research their Real ID thing and found out after announcing that it violated the laws of several supported territories.

Originally Posted by Zloth
I'm betting for Ubisoft games it's just a DRM check. I would expect Diablo 3 will be keeping all the data it can on the servers.

Which is part of the reason I am so against it. I have always ignored DRM because cracks made it irrelevant. If the DRM ever stopped me from playing I could just crack the game. If Diablo 3 is made "unpirateable" and has DRM on it then I could never buy it, not only because of possible inconvenience but also simply because holy shit I cannot support that happening to more games in the future.

Maybe once it is cracked I will buy it, but only second-hand.

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
I think a lot of people are basing that possibility on the fact they did not research their Real ID thing and found out after announcing that it violated the laws of several supported territories.

No one is saying it's not a possibility.

I'm saying I find it quite unlikely that they haven't done any research, given the serious nature of real-money transactions.

But, why don't we just wait and see. It will be apparent if they've been prepared for this - soon enough.

Originally Posted by Zloth
P.S. "Diablo 3: it's not just an adventure, it's a job!" <smirk>

Blizzard is not just a game company but an employment office too! I wonder how many chinese have a job thanks to them.

I find the notion of paying for fantasy items quite interesting, and both scary and amusing.

To think how easy it would be for Blizzard to just put the best items up for sale on the RMT auction house - using a "sponsored" character.

Then again, I've often suspected them of "sponsoring" gold farming business ventures with WoW.

Selling generated fantasy gold for real money would be just the thing for the opportunist

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Isn't it reasonably safe to assume that Blizzard, with more resources than several deities combined, have already dealt with the legal ramifications internally?

Not that such a thing is a guarentee, but I'd have to say they'd be supremely stupid, if they hadn't paid some top legal people to research this and verify the legality issues and fortified themselves against potential grey areas.

People are talking about this as if Blizzard just made this feature up on a whim, and they're just hoping everything will fall into place.

I don't doubt for a second that they've had their legal team digging into it. My thought is that the corporate response (which would be supported by existing tax and contract law) is that all those "pesky tax problems" would belong to the gamers. Not sure how well that stance would hold up internationally, but the extra complexity can't help. You Euros have been known to throw out contract law in the name of "protecting the public" so I wouldn't say Blizzard would be ironclad on an international front even when they're all lawyer'd up.

It would be a year or two down the road before our hypothetical "gaming for profit" folks got that first unpleasant call from the IRS. They would, of course, plead ignorance and point the finger at Blizzard, which would get them exactly nowhere except pissed since the EULA would undoubtedly be written to keep Blizzard as clean as possible. Blizzard would shut down the auction house (quietly keeping 2 years of profits, mind you) due to "unforseen legal complications" and some handfuls of gamers would have to deal with tax evasion problems on their own.

Even if Blizzard comes out legally pristine, they're going to have a PR nightmare to deal with. Blizzard's lawyers aren't paid to worry about PR; all they care about is the contract law. Just seems to me like a huge gamble against the public's goodwill for what very well might be chump change (or could be a gold mine, I suppose, but that just shifts the odds of the gamble).

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I find the notion of paying for fantasy items quite interesting, and both scary and amusing.

To think how easy it would be for Blizzard to just put the best items up for sale on the RMT auction house - using a "sponsored" character.

Then again, I've often suspected them of "sponsoring" gold farming business ventures with WoW.

Selling generated fantasy gold for real money would be just the thing for the opportunist

Wow (no pun intended), interesting point, sir. I guess that's why we keep you around

According to The Guardian (I think it was there where it appeared), wow gold farms are partly "driven" by corrupt prison heads, who force the inhabitants there to go out farming for gold.