Blizzard Entertainment has just announced that they will be implementing an auction house in Diablo 3 that will allow players to buy and sell in-game items for real money. It seems to be the fix that they've come up with to deter the infamous gold-farmers by giving everyone the chance to do it while giving themselves the ability to mediate the entire process. But don't think Blizz isn't taking their own cut now... that would just be bad business (especially now that they've made such a seemingly drastic attempt to eliminate the middle man)!
- "A nominal fixed transaction fee will be deducted from the seller for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. Because the listing portion of the fee is charged even if the item doesn’t sell, it will be in the seller’s interest to list items he or she believes other players will be interested in, and to do so at a competitive price. Specific details related to the transaction fee for the currency-based auction house will vary by region and will be announced at a later date."
Can we buy gold from the currency-based auction house?
- "Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the currency-based auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community."
This ground-breaking feature brings a number of questions and concerns to mind. How will this affect the balance of the game?? Particularly PvP, where players who may spend boat loads of cash gearing their character will be matched up against someone who hasn't spent a dime. It will be interesting to see how Blizzard implements a solution to this and I look forward to not being disappointed. A less troubling question though, is what side will you be on? I know being the needy college student that I am, that I will be on the selling side of this new feature. I imagine most people will do a little of both, trying to balance the checkbook with each transaction. "Oh cool! An epic robe just dropped and I'm a Barbarian so I can't use it. Now I'll have money to buy the equivalent in plate gear!" Something along those lines at least ;) .
Read more here or see the FAQ on Blizzard's site... OR for all you can eat Diablo 3 (no joke, this site has everything you could possibly want to know about Diablo III), check out this site.
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