Last time, we looked at how the fees for the different auction houses will affect trading in Diablo 3. Today, I’d like to look at it from Blizzard’s perspective and understand how the company selected the fee structure, what it will be paying attention to, and how it might treat the auction house in the long-term.
If there’s one thing Blizzard learned from Diablo II, it’s that there is a huge demand for functional in-game economies. Where Blizzard did not provide, players and companies emerged and established methods for trading and valuation. Both Diablo II and World of Warcraft have shown that there is a huge demand to use real money to purchase things, like characters, items, and gold. Blizzard took a staunch “no-RMT” policy for World of Warcraft, as expressed in the game’s Terms of Service, and does not hold back in banning accounts used to sell items or gold. If you haven’t seen it yet, it really shines a light on how serious Blizzard is about preventing RMT in WoW:
Blizzard has acknowledged that WoW gold purchased from third parties is “most commonly” obtained through compromised accounts. Blizzard has also acknowledged that third-party sites in Diablo II were often the source of credit card fraud and often did not provide a high level of service. It also promoted spam, bots, and hacking. It makes sense for the company to offer this service to players directly and built into the client: it provides a better experience and Blizzard can skim a bit of cash as well.
On May 15th at 3 A.M. PDT, the heavens will tremble and Diablo 3 will be live. Players will be able to scour Sanctuary for gold and epic loot and trade it on the in-game gold-based auction house immediately, and a week later, the real money auction house will open, where players can trade their items with other players for real world currencies.
The recent announcement of the fee schedule for the “real-money trade” (RMT) auction house had some players astonished at the prices. The fee for the gold-based auction house is 15% of the sale price and while the real-money auction house matches that 15% for “commodities” (e.g., stackable items, gems, materials, dyes, etc.), it charges $1 for equipment and unique items. These fees are charged to the seller and deduced from the money they receive from the sale of the item. Additionally, the real money revenue is credited to a Battle.net account balance; if you want to be paid and withdraw the funds to Paypal, this incurs an additional 15% charge. Once you get the money into Paypal, you can transfer to a bank account for free, or do anything you could normally do with Paypal credit.
If you are at all familiar with Blizzard’s other major auction house system, the WoW gold auction house, you might notice the similarities and differences easily. Here’s a quick rundown of WoW’s auction house fees:
5% of the sale price on same faction auction house (99% of the trading), 15% on neutral auction houses
Players must put down a deposit when selling items. If the item fails to sell, the deposit is not returned. The deposit varies based on the length of the auction and the vendor value of the item.
Seems like the Diablo auction house is a lot less forgiving, doesn’t it? Read on for some of the possible motivation.
WARNING: This article does not use any harsh language, but some of the linked pages may. Click at your own risk.
Recently, the prominent e-sports team Evil Geniuses (EG) ended a short-lived contract with a player named Orb, who was scheduled to cast their next tournament, the Evil Geniuses Master Cup Series VII. Orb was dismissed from the contract after some of his previous games were uncovered, where he used a racial slur insensitivity, and failed to take responsibility. The StarCraft community has all sorts of varying opinions on the matter, and it has become a very contentious issue.
The initial controversy started when a screenshot was posted on reddit of Orb making rude remarks (including the slur) after losing a game. Most of the comments on the screenshot were rather disgusted. Orb, relatively unknown previous to his participation with EG, made a post about how he didn’t say those things and it was, in fact, his friend playing on his account. This was suspicious for many reasons; including the fact that he claimed the reason his friend was playing was that they weren’t that interested in StarCraft, but at the time his ‘friend’ was playing at a Master’s league level with the same setup and hotkeys as Orb. Additionally, some commenters added that he had been banned from Team Liquid’s featured streamer list for his language previously, and some people noted that when he streamed during the StarCraft II beta he often spoke this way. After an uproar on reddit and Team Liquid, some people called for a boycott of EG and complained to EG’s corporate sponsors. Evil Genius’ CEO Alexander Garfield then ended the team’s relationship with Orb. Orb released a statement apologizing (safe for work) for his language, but many people still fault him for sticking to his story of his friend playing on his account, a story that’s hard to swallow.
Game Informer recently announced that their June issue will feature The Elder Scrolls Online. The game will feature all of Tamriel, including Skyrim and Elsweyr. A trailer for the game will debut tomorrow morning on May 4th.
Set 1,000 years before Skyrim, players will join one of three factions and fight in an open world environment for the region of Cyrodiil “and the Emperor’s throne itself.” Touted by Game Director Matt Firor as “the best MMO ever made”, we expect excellent solo questing, dungeons, and open world exploration from you, Bethesda.
The game will launch for PC and Mac in 2013. Stay up to date here at Lore Hound.
The beta will be open to everyone from April 20th (Friday) at 12:01 PM PDT to 10:00 AM April 23rd (Monday). People with existing invitations can play during this period, but the beta will be shutting down on May 1st to make way for its May 15th release date. All current World of Warcraft annual pass holders get a free digital download copy of the game, and anyone who has the annual pass or has pre-ordered the digital download from Blizzard can download the client now. Click here for the beta client download, and login to your Battle.net account for the release client download.
If you as big a fan of Rolling in the Deep as I am, this parody probably strikes a chord. The struggle of not downing a boss pierces the soul as much as Adele’s voice.
If you are into showtunes and rolling with mad deeps, join us on Proudmooore! Xander (the singer on this track) is, like me, a proud Proudmoorian, albeit on Alliance side.
Across the breadth of Azeroth, the Horde and the Alliance have dealt crushing blows to Deathwing’s elemental minions and fanatic Twilight’s Hammer cultists. Through it all, the Earthen Ring has never wavered from its tireless charge, holding Azeroth itself together amid the tidal fury and errant magical energies that churn at the Maelstrom. Yet as the elements continue their chaotic upheaval, it seems that the noble shamanic order might finally be on the verge of breaking beneath the great weight that rests on its shoulders. Even Thrall, for all of his wisdom and skill, has grown aggravated by his failure to effectively communicate with Azeroth’s elements. Recently, his calls were acknowledged, but the malevolent entity that responded has only intensified Thrall’s fears and doubts….
Patch 4.2 is nearly upon us. It will almost certainly be released this Tuesday, the 21st, bringing the new Firelands raid, lots of new daily quests in the Firelands, and much more.
On May 15th at 3 A.M. PDT, the heavens will tremble and 
The dapper Boubille of MMO-Champion has uncovered and revealed the new /dances coming in the new 
