New Blizzard policy: Gold farming is OK (as long as we get a cut!)

Raegenheri

Raegenheri

New Member
I don't know if anyone saw this or not, but information from the upcoming Diablo III beta has leaked out:
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=806335

The big shocker here is this:
"Real Money" Auction House. You can sell and buy Items for Real Money. You have to pay fee to Blizzard for it. You can also use an Ingame-Gold Acution House.
Blizzard will not sell Gold or Items. It is just Player to Player Trading.
Click to expand...

Officially sanctioned gold selling in Diablo III, people doing it just have to pay a BlizzTax on each transaction.

So now Blizzard is telling people that buying or selling gold and items for real money is fine, as long as they get a cut of the action.

Perfect time for a new game to come out, eh?
http://www.swtor.com/guilds/9246/called-darkness
 
Sony has been doing this in EQ and other MMOs for a few years now. Makes sense that Blizz would take the idea and polish it up. I love the idea that I can turn my playtime into cash.
 
People dismissed me as a "slippery slope" fanatic when I spoke out against paid companion pets. I still don't like the idea of them. If this sort of thing makes it into WoW, I will quit playing that day. Keep real life currency out of my games please.
 
I recall back in the heyday of ultima online, people could make some serious cash selling gold, items, and accounts. Ultima online also had player housing, and placing larger and larger houses was only limited by terrain. I remember when castles (the largest plot by far) used to net $1,000 easy on eBay...
 
The more I think about this, this is exactly what I was looking for. A way for poor folk like me to earn some cash with my game time. Now i have a reason to hardcore it to the end for the first shot at big drops that will bring in a small fortune! bwahahahahah
 
If the "Real Money" Auction House makes its way to WoW, I'm... er... golden. >.>

I could pay for my subscription fees with my in-game earnings. That'd be awesome.
 
That is the one huge benefit for selling in-game items for RL cash. Back in the UO days, it used to be easy to pay for the account's monthly fees just by attending a few raids and getting lucky on a few drops.

*edit*

and to be honest, LOTRO has an in-game store that you can earn money in-game to buy stuff... or buy points with RL cash. Granted it takes away from the seller's market, but I honestly don't have an issue with it. I still play my game without interruptions, my stuff still auctions for reasonable amounts, and I'm not required to use RL cash to succeed in the game.

It's an option for those with expendable income but little time. I'm really, really okay with that.
 
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Pretty extensive article about Blizz's thought process behind the move at Joystiq here.

They say:
1) The secondary markets develop anyhow. Rather than trying to "ban" them in vain, might as well make it safe and secure for players.
2) Diablo is non-competitive. So it doesn't risk unbalancing the game. Corollary: this is a key difference with WoW and thus they wouldn't do it with WoW.
3) The legal issues are crazy. RL money for random drops with a global player base.

I am impressed with Blizz simply having the guts to do it given #3 and given that they surely know of the sort of "money-grubbing Activision" blowback the gaming community will throw up. But I love that they're trying. It would be one thing if this was added to an existing game with a large community and asset base already built up (e.g. WoW) ... that is disrespectful to the existing players. But when it's integrated and clearly communicated from the beginning with a brand-new game ... I can't see fault in that.
 
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