Anyone else feel like they've been plugged into a crassly allegorical movie?
Buzz begins to build around a hot new video game, which promises hard-up players that they can make serious money - simply by grinding the hours away.
Behind the scenes, a hulking software corporation sends out it smiling creators to publicly celebrate the announcement, whilst high-fiving a mesmerised media.
The foreboding name of the game would perhaps get a more chilling, dramatic reveal in Hollywoodland, but still: Diablo. Seriously? The Dark Lord offering technological fruits of temptation?
Forgive the bombast: I'm sure the introduction of Diablo III's Auction House won't quite lead to worship of Louis Cypher himself - but it's not exactly coming across as the purest of initiatives, either.
This one's all about the fans, Blizzard keeps reminding us. It's a design decision for the customers. Sure, Activision's taking a cut from every transaction - but they're thinking of you when it happens
Blizzard VP Rob Pardo justified the move this week in an intriguing manner.
"People were going to do it anyway, and this way it's secure," he said - sounding a little like an MP who'd just legalised dogging.
"As long as players are having fun, whatever they're doing, I consider that a success."
Except there are bigger considerations when it comes to perpetual online monetary exchange than mere 'fun'. Like 'personal fiscal responsibility'. And 'bank balance'.
I don't doubt that Blizzard's move helps police a practice that currently thrives on the black market - one which puts players, their PCs' health and their credit card details at risk. For those individuals, it's difficult to argue that this is anything but a positive step.
Yet by openly legitimising an gorgeous get-rich premise - and as already indicated by headlines that dangle that particular wet dream - a whole bunch of new recruits are surely poised to reach for their bank details.
Not by fluke, either: Activision Blizzard's rapacious hunger for new revenue streams depends on it. As COO Thomas Tipple told investors in May: "We're changing up from a once-a-year retail [purchase] to a continuous relationship... That's not just great for players - it's also very good for our shareholders."
We live in a recessionary era; one of debt-strapped every-men doing the breadline dosey-doe whilst fuelling the (real life) Cash4Gold boon.
The idea that I could make a decent slice of moolah through my favourite pastime is an immediately attractive notion; one elevated far beyond Zynga-style in-game currency. It would be especially appealing without an age-calcified layer of cynicism - and if someone wasn't paying me to write these words.
Then there's the mouse-clicking elephant in the room: the time spent grinding one's life away on Blizzard's fantastic games is already the subject of much high-profile - and occasionally reasonable - debate.
Comments
17 comments so far...
StonecoldMC on 2 Aug '11 said:
Business is business.
They were seeling Diablo loot on Ebay for years, you can see why Activision / Blizzard want a piece of the pie.
Basically, they are endorsing gold farming. Good thing or bad thing? That'll be up to the Diablo Fans and Players to decide.
SWiscool on 2 Aug '11 said:
But the example of an unfair advantage doesn't really fit here... Not only because you could find everything in the game (or make it) but because that, as far as I understood, this game's focus isn't PvP... If I play coop with someone, what do I care if he bought all his ultra gear at the auction house?
As for PvP, the smart thing to do would be to make special conditions so that everyone had the same gear for matches... But I doubt Blizz will care enough to do anything like that, since they seem to already believe they know what we want.
Headsrinker on 2 Aug '11 said:
Personally i dont understand why anyone would pay money for things you can earn/find/achieve in the game yourself. If someone wants to pay for something that is effectively worth nothing, then let them go ahead. As long as its not with their Dads credit card!
Raptor117 on 2 Aug '11 said:
The only major aftermath that I can see from this is the shooters will try to copy this system. Shooters, I mean Activision and Dice. Both were plagued for being unable to entice more pre orders because gamers who doesn't want to spend more are angry with the pre order bonuses like BF3's Physical Pack. They can't sale DLCs with powerful weapons or add ons that can make the multiplayer session unbalanced between DLC mercs and Vanilla troopers. So they are stuck with selling different uniforms and maps or hats in Team Fortress's case.
What I'm saying is that I won't be surprised some time in the future shooters would allow some sort of gun crafting in the game. Or a random special weapon drops during multiplayer or coop. So that the gamers can trade those weapons among themselves and the developers become the middlemen. Like Blizzard with Diablo 3.
We know how Activision have said over the years that the CoD fan base is like a gigantic ready to raped gold mine just lying there waiting. I guess somewhere in Activision's HQ a light bulb must've light up when they see what Blizzard have done with Diablo 3. Instead of merely charging subscribers with yearly fees, why not drop special weapons or extra kill perk points like mana bottles so the gamers can trade among themselves? it's not DLC that they sell so they can't be angry with gamers selling stuff with each other, right?
The only shooter (apart from the MMOs and RPGs) that have this capability is Borderlands and it's powerful random gun making engine. I wonder if Borderlands 2 would have something like Blizzard's auction system for the millions of guns the game engine can produce.
freds1 on 2 Aug '11 said:
There's no way I personally would make use of it. Buying weapons and characters like that just seems silly to me, and a complete waste of money. If I get this (and it made me think twice when I heard it was using the always on internet thing) I'll be treating it just as any other game. Play a few times and be done with it. Maybe play a game or two again much later down the road when I feel like it. Maybe I'm underestimating the tenacity and enthusiasm of Diablo players, I never played D1+2 in it's prime, it was only a few years ago now I picked them up. It was difficult seeing how good it must been back then when you are used to much better graphics.
But as someone has already stated, you could nearly see the dollar signs light up and twinkle in Blizzys eyes at the mere thought of it. At least it's got their blessing, there's a proper system in place for it and should be safe.
Blumiere on 2 Aug '11 said:
Really all they are doing is taking all the EPIC LOOT items you find on ebay and doing it ingame, plus you don't have to even take part in it, again WoW's ingame Auction House is optional, as is every other ingame one.
Imaduck on 3 Aug '11 said:
Imagine trying to explain to someone that your sepnt like £400 on a f**king magical unicorn in a game
Like most people, I had a WoW dalliance, and that side of it always made no sense to me at all. Not the Auction system, I thought that was great to see, taught people buisness. I mean paying for gold, buying in-game items online on like Ebay for CRAZY amounts, what the hell?!
freds1 on 3 Aug '11 said:
Some....interesting listening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBrESZJlNvQ&
Imaduck on 3 Aug '11 said:
Good link Fred, very in depth. This is, frankly an all time low for Blizzard, but also probably one of gaming's lowest moves as well. I hope it fails completely and utterly. Despite now being on my second PC since Diablo 3 videos partly influenced me to build a gaming PC ....... I won't be buying this. And yeah, thats going to burn me, I've been waiting about 2-3 years, but I can't buy it knowing what I'm supporting. This is a first for me. I adored Warcraft 3 as a kid, Blizzard murdered Warcraft. So yeah, f**k you Blizzard, you've burnt out and sold out.
starvinbull on 4 Aug '11 said:
I watched the video and came to one conclusion, this will kill the money trade for diablo items and gold.
If there are millions of people desperate to make money by spending tens of hours farming rare loot, the rare loot will drop like a stone in value. What would have cost £100 in Diablo 2 will now cost £5 because there will be more people aiming to get it to sell.
It also means that "pro" players will always have the option to trade in their accumulated virtual real estate at any given moment for a few hundred quid effectively encouraging them to stop playing sooner.
Personally, I don't have a problem with it.
monkeyfish08 on 24 Feb '12 said:
I still dont understand why people are freaking out about this. People with money are going to buy items and for what? To level faster? To make the game easier? Fine. Let the people make their game easier. The game has a PVP aspect, but its FAR from the focus of the game. They aren't going to care about people trying to overpower themselves with real money because its NOT THE FOCUS OF THE GAME. Of course there are the obvious ways people could corrupt this. ANYTHING INVOLVING MONEY IS CAPABLE OF CORRUPTION. A company whos purpose is to make money is *GASP* doing something bad to make money! :O Guess what. If you dont like it. Avoid it. SIMPLE. AS. THAT. We know that the profiteering of the game is wrong, but we cant POSSIBLY ask Blizzard to say HEY. STOP TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. Because they'll do whatever they can to get it. I dont plan on using the auction house for anything. I'm gonna enjoy the game to the ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM and the fact that theres an auction house in the game will detract from that experience IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY.
Fixi on 27 Feb '12 said:
People also focus way to much on spending money on the auction house. I'm not really going to buy stuff, well it depends on my sales, but if by selling some items I can for example pay my wow subscription I will be happy. But I doubt with the few hours I will spend playing Diablo, that even getting that monthly wow subscription out of it will be possible.
Speaking of the wow subscription isn't that like an auction house transaction where you receive a ticket for play time as an item? Yet no complains there?
romeo686 on 27 Feb '12 said:
A good way for all to find what they want on a game. if i want to sell something to make cash, i do.
if i why to buy something that i was expecting for many month, i buy ! all can find a good way on this method.
noone say : who must buy or sell, you make what you want when you want, that's the only way ! like on life.
Blizzard make the good solution to have a futur must on game. hope this will enjoy gamers for long.
Boci on 27 Feb '12 said:
If the system means that we don't have to pay monthly fee and got good support i don't have any problem with it. People are not forced to buy anything for money, but they would do it anyway (even without RMAH support) as that was the case in D2.
JBurby on 28 Feb '12 said:
I'm starting to feel a little uneasy about it too. It's kinda feeling like I have to learn WOW style gold/loot farming in order to be "competitive". I know there I will probably be able to carve out my own niche and ignore the crazy stuff going on in an auction house. But when a good deal of the game is about joining up with randoms, and those randoms will possibly have absolutely superior gear to me through farming and the auction house, it all feels a bit daunting. Yes, diablo 2 was about the same thing, but it was harder to do so, and there were probably a good deal more "casual" players like me.
JBurby on 28 Feb '12 said:
StarvinBull, good points.
Nosp on 28 Feb '12 said:
My words exactly, when i heard of the real money AH. Blizzard will never be able to stop selling items and gold on the black markets, however they can make profit out of it, by legalizing it