They're trying to make Diablo 3 into their new WoW cash cow. And Activision have only recently started to get their claws into Blizzard for real.Originally Posted by arathain
They're trying to make Diablo 3 into their new WoW cash cow. And Activision have only recently started to get their claws into Blizzard for real.
I know they're hoping to have hit on a new set of ways to extract money from players. If they want PvP to be more than throwaway entertainment (which it was in Diablo 2, really) it'll need to be balanced and enjoyable. If they get a good community going they'll make a lot because the PvP base will have to buy the good stuff on auction to stay competitive. It's kind of ironic that to be money-grabbing and cynical they have to make a superior play experience.
I think if you intend to buy the game, and enjoy PvP, the thing to do will be to get into it early, have your fun, and accept that there will come a time when you'll have to move on or spend some money.
It doesn't worry me all that much. I will likely buy it, play only PvE, rarely if ever play with other people, never spend a penny. I expect it will be the best ever of the clicking-on-monsters-until-loot-falls-out genre (COMULFO: you saw it here first, people).
It's too bad that the stuff on the cash auction house isn't being sold by Blizzard but other players. Kind of throws a wrench in your little theory.
Blizzard will take money for every item that is offered on the real-money auction house.
Edit: I understand that the listing fee was removed in the beta, so there is now only a transaction fee.
Last edited by NathanH; 11-03-2012 at 10:58 PM.
Nah, Blizzard only takes a cut on successful auctions.
The beta game play is amazing, there are a few tweaks that need to be done, and because it's Blizzard, every thing's blown out of proportion on both sides. Videos don't really do the beta justice, the game feels really good to play. The addition of Havok physics is awesome, the first time i bashed a zombie and it corpse-flopped slowly over a wall, i was amazed. That said - the game is not perfect - there are a few UI issues now, which i suspect will be fixed. The rune system seems full of controversy, and is probably the biggest issue at the moment. Crafting has been nerfed, which was needed, difficulty increased, things seem to be shaping up very well at this point. Don't worry - the game's going to be good.
They've said before it's intended to be throwaway and they're not going to put a huge amount of effort into balancing it.
The delay suggests perhaps they think it can be more than that.
To be honest, PvPers are only ever going to be a very small fraction of the player base, as is usually the case. So even if PvPers spend more on average than other players, which is possible, it still wouldn't amount to all that much. Maybe. They may have run the numbers differently.
I keep hearing stuff like this, and every time I do it sounds like a self-serving prophecy.
I really wish they would implement polished teams arenas with standardized gear and a ladder system.
I didn't get into D2 PvP but I would probably play it if it were balanced. Using PVE gear in PvP though sort of turns me off.
Was a lot of features left out of WoW to get it to release. Nothing new.
Titan is according to the "leaked" documents being released in 2015. Do WoW currently need a replacement? I doubt it does. But continue with the "speaking out of your ass" it surely is hilarious.
Design-wise, how is the game a mess? How can you judge that they are trying to grab some quick cash?
You continuously bitch about things without even trying to reason them? You call upon redundancies and the 600 man lay-off at Blizzard. Exactly whom from the Diablo III Development Team or anyone associated with Diablo III was laid off? This was their WoW dept. and 540 of them was customer support.
When will you bring up some actual backstage-knowledge and not just try to assume things that you have absolutely no idea about? It's quite clear that you have a huge hatred for Blizzard, Activision and any product associated with them - at least to me it sounds that way.
They keep changing stuff around and making it worse. The runes system was the worst possible idea and they obviously have no idea what to do with it, since it's went from "you buy them" to "everyone has all the runes at max level". No real character development, and the levelling system is more like CoD multiplayer than an actual RPG.
The RMAH is an obvious cash grab. The fact it's included at all and EVERY SINGLE BIT OF DESIGN REVOLVES AROUND IT should tell you this. But, of course, you're Gozuu, who makes wonderful posts like this:-
So that you find it worse is a definition of the company having no idea what to do with the game? Are you even in the beta or are you judging by the looks and gameplay videos going around? Rather than having no idea, I'd like to think they are just relieving their customers from the farm game. An example is the rune system. I am incredibly thankful that you have all runes at max level. This means that I can go directly into specializations without silly korean-MMO hassle of acquiring them. Farming isn't depth, it's prolonging. Diablo has never been a true RPG. It's quite frankly a HAck'n'Slash with elements of RPG. The leveling system cuts out the bullshit and brings you directly to the gameplay and less story. I never cared about the story of Diablo & Diablo II, the gameplay was all that was in it for me, so any cut of RPG elements is more than fine to me.
Yes, the RMAH is a cash grab. You might dislike it and you may as well ignore it totally. The geniuses put in an old-school gold only Auction House so that you don't have to deal with micro transactions! I know that is hard to believe, but it's true! Other than the fact that you don't have to use it, it will make certain that they can continuously provide post-launch support, expansions and avoid redundancies like with the WoW customer support! You know, sustainable income which a game you get for 60 Dollars that provides hundred of hours of playtime does not really provide.
Pretty much this. It's 'sustainable business model' rather than 'cash-grab'. It turns out that operating servers and running support teams costs money and can't be funded indefinitely. It's optional, and will hopefully stop the servers being shut down in three years' time.
If it were a 'cash-grab', Blizzard would just sell over-powered loot items through micro-transactions instead. That'd be far easier to implement and make far more money for them. And cause a lot less fuss as it's practically accepted practice now.
I find it hilarious that you think the gold auction house will be used at all.
Whatever, man, you're the typical corporate shill that we get on these forums. The RMAH is the central design tenet of the entire game. It's a fucking cash grab. Get over it.
Why do you find it hilarious? How do you think I know that it will be used?
I know this by reading the news, watching the news, find interest in what the world wide web provides me with of information that are closely tied to the model that the RMAH uses. Facebook games is one reason that I can tell the RMAH will be a success. DLC from Activision being bought in the millions is another reason that I can tell the RMAH will be a success. I don't know why you once again tell me it is a cash grab, which I've already agreed with you upon, yet it still remains a source of income to keep everything running after your one time purchase and it will bring life to future Blizzard games as well as keep the redundancies from coming back the next time. That last statement might be naive, but one can only hope people get to keep their jobs. You are free not to use the RMAH, I won't use it either.
And I think you might be right. But then, why would that happen? If no-one uses the gold AH and everyone uses the RMT one... well that's because everyone's chosen to use the RMT one. At which point, surely the blame has to shift from Blizzard to the users. They were given a choice and they chose RMT. Which means the majority of the customers prefer RMT, which means it was a sensible decision.
The simple fact is that enough people want to use the gold AH, the gold AH will be fine.
Why will it not be used?
Because, as soon as you put up an item, it'll immediately be bought by some random Korean or a bot or anything inbetween and then resold on the RMAH. It's that simple.
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