Diablo 3 Auction House Announced - Spend and Earn Real Life Money!

[Elim Garak]

The discussion at hand is entirely about account security, and Blizzard's responsibilities when account security affects your money as well as your games. Since the authenticator has direct bearing on account security (and the safety of the account) it's not moot. The fact that we both agree that the account won't be perfectly safe with an authenticator means we can stop discussing it, not that it's irrelevant.

So you do not understand what a moot point is or what part of your point is moot...

I'll break it down for you: since we cannot achieve PERFECT security - makes the problem of "authenticator is not perfect" irrelevant in your argument.

Where on the current battle.net account are you able to put/store money?

In virtual goods

what's a bnet coin? The statements (and FAQ) from Blizzard made no mention of such a thing.

L2R then:

How will the currency-based auction house work?
...As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds...

When dealing with the Diablo 3 cash AH what will be used are actual US dollars. There's no conversion back and forth from real money to fake money. It's real money that Blizzard will be charging you fees on (listing, sales and transfer fees).

It has nothing to to with putting money into bnet account - it's a direct online purchase of an item

I'm not sure you understand what that means. Paypal isn't a bank, and Paypal can (and does) hold funds.

The jury is still out
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-858264.html

So, no, Blizzard may not be acting as a bank. In fact, they may be putting the money that they're holding for you into a bank account to earn interest on it to make money for themselves.

Dude, banks do that TOO. Only money they don't touch are those you put in your personal safe in their vault. If you put money in your bank account - they do with them whatever they please to earn interest.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 11:59 AM ----------

I thought at first ag666 was just trolling so I ignored him, but now I am beginning to wonder if he even gets this new system with his reference to "bnet coins".

Read the fucking FAQ more carefully.

[Butch]

I don't see why people keep bringing this up... nowhere (as far as I can tell) does it say they will waive the fee for a certain amount of auctions per week/month/year. It only says they'll do that for your first few. Maybe so you can generate some money on your battle.net account to pay the fees for the subsequent auctions with.

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html...000&pageNo=1#2

[Deleted]

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html...000&pageNo=1#2

Thank you. I didn't see it in the original post on mmo-c, didn't read any of the other stuff. This announcement made me want to play D3 (no, not to make money, I just want to see what happens), was going to skip it

[Skalme]

In virtual goods

Virtual goods are not money. Explain to me how you would withdraw your virtual goods to go spend them on something else.

The jury is still out

A link to a news story from 2002.

Here's a clue, it's been 9 years since then, Paypal still isn't a bank.

L2R then:

An excellent suggestion, and one you should apply to yourself. Part of learning to read is understanding what words mean.

How will the currency-based auction house work?
...As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds...

Yeah, you're just clueless. I'm done.

You pulled this bnet coin thing out of thin air. Making things up to support your point doesn't work.

A balance of funds doesn't mean fake money. It's REAL MONEY. Blizzard used the terms real-world currency, actual money, and others repeatedly throughout the FAQ.

If I put $30 on my battle.net account, then that's an actual $30 of real actual US dollars. It's the same as charging a store credit card, I can only spend it at that store but that doesn't make it not money. A big difference here is that not only can you get the money back, you can use the Blizzard marketplace to buy and sell to make a profit and transfer that profit into a balance on your bank account.

Read the fucking FAQ more carefully.

ITYM, Read the FAQ, make stuff up to explain what you don't understand, then get mad at others because they understood what was written.

[Elim Garak]

Virtual goods are not money. Explain to me how you would withdraw your virtual goods to go spend them on something else.


A link to a news story from 2002.

Here's a clue, it's been 9 years since then, Paypal still isn't a bank.


An excellent suggestion, and one you should apply to yourself. Part of learning to read is understanding what words mean.


Yeah, you're just clueless. I'm done.

You pulled this bnet coin thing out of thin air. Making things up to support your point doesn't work.

A balance of funds doesn't mean fake money. It's REAL MONEY. Blizzard used the terms real-world currency, actual money, and others repeatedly throughout the FAQ.

If I put $30 on my battle.net account, then that's an actual $30 of real actual US dollars. It's the same as charging a store credit card, I can only spend it at that store but that doesn't make it not money. A big difference here is that not only can you get the money back, you can use the Blizzard marketplace to buy and sell to make a profit and transfer that profit into a balance on your bank account.


ITYM, Read the FAQ, make stuff up to explain what you don't understand, then get mad at others because they understood what was written.

Dude, this is the last response from me to you.

READ THE FAQ - YOU CAN'T WITHDRAW THE MONEY YOU CHARGED YOUR BNET ACCOUNT WITH (I.E. BNET COINS - AS DUBBED BY ME).
IT'S THE SAME THING AS: MS POINTS, PSN POINTS, BIOWARE POINTS, FACEBOOK COINS, ETC.

IF YOU ARE SELLING AN ITEM FOR "BNET COINS" THE MONEY WILL GO TO YOUR BNET ACCOUNT AND YOU CANNOT CASH OUT THEM. THE ONLY MONEY YOU CAN CASH OUT IS THOSE YOU GET BY SELLING ITEMS FOR 3D PARTY CURRENCY (PAYPAL, ETC) OR REAL CURRENCY DIRECTLY TO YOU BANK ACCOUNT OR CREDIT CARD ATTACHED TO BNET ACCOUNT.

[Skalme]

Dude, this is the last response from me to you.

Please?

READ THE FAQ - YOU CAN'T WITHDRAW THE MONEY YOU CHARGED YOUR BNET ACCOUNT

So, you're correct, if I have money on my battle.net account, I can't get that money off. My bad for that portion.

However, that in no way addresses what happens when a third party has access to your account. Which is what this discussion is about.

Scenario 1:
Person A has $100 on their battle.net account. Hacker B gains access. They use that $100 on the account to buy piece_of_junk_00123417, that money is then transferred directly to Hacker B's Third party account (less fees). From the third party account it goes who knows where.

That's $100 of real money gone because the money was in actual, real life, US Dollars gone to a hacker.

Scenario 2:
Person A has a payment method tied to their battle.net account. Hacker B gains access. They use the account to buy piece_of_junk_001466435, piece_of_junk_13471774, piece_of_junk_9245732224564 &ct until you've reached the limit on that payment method. That money is transferred directly to Hacker B's Third party account (less fees).

At no point are there bnet coins, or any other fake construct, involved. My analogy still stands. It's like charging a store credit card. Sure, the money can only be used at that store, but it's still MONEY.

The only thing Blizzard has said about the situation is "In cases of compromise, our customer service team will look into the situation and determine the appropriate course of action." What happens when they attempt a charge back to the third party and can't get the money? How much is Blizzard going to be liable for? How likely is Blizzard to say "account security is the user's responsibility" and wash their hands of it?

[Vexxed060]

Looks like I'm saving myself 60 dollars this winter.

[Menedude]

You could also just never use real money and even if your account is compromised it won't matter. I for one will install the game, equip my sword and go kill some demons and it'll be awesome fun.

[Mordecai88]

well looks like i saved 60 bucks cause this game just went straight to hell (pun intended) im not paying 60 bucks for a game so i can have some bitchy lil 12 yr old who jumped on daddys D1ck pay 20 bucks to buy what i just had to play 4 hours of the game 2 get F that nice going blizz u just ruined years of waiting those of us who dont have disposible income are hugely disadvantaged over the whiny kid whose daddy buys him the best gear fuck u blizzard fuck u

---------- Post added 2011-08-05 at 08:39 AM ----------

they really need to implement some kind of way to mark purchased items and shut off their use in private games that way when u win/lose a duel u kno it was skill involved and not some nerdy fucking 11 yr old with his moms card buying maxed out char. once again FUCK U BLIZZ FUCK U

[Deleted]

they really need to implement some kind of way to mark purchased items and shut off their use in private games that way when u win/lose a duel u kno it was skill involved and not some nerdy fucking 11 yr old with his moms card buying maxed out char. once again FUCK U BLIZZ FUCK U

Skill was only involved if you have the same (or similar) gear. Else it's a matter of luck in who finds the best gear, considering drops aren't divided like they are in WoW (i.e. a boss has 10 items in his loot table so you have a reasonable chance of "farming" the item you want). The guy who buys the gear just spent less time grinding for it... he could still have the same amount of skill, not to mention if he buys gear and you farmed it, you probably have more experience with the game anyway, so what are you worried about? You can't lose right

[Cygne]

they really need to implement some kind of way to mark purchased items and shut off their use in private games that way when u win/lose a duel u kno it was skill involved

First off, you're going to get paired with people that have equal gear as you in PvP. So if you still get your poop kicked in after that then you basically got out-skilled, since being out-geared isn't a factor.

People will complain just to complain without even knowing the facts.

[BenBos]

First off, you're going to get paired with people that have equal gear as you in PvP. So if you still get your poop kicked in after that then you basically got out-skilled, since being out-geared isn't a factor.People will complain just to complain without even knowing the facts.

One thing is clear. Buy blizzard stock. Made some calculations: 5 million players that put an average of ONE item on sale per day on average. 10 cents per item posted. That's 1 million dollar every 2 days. Double that fee for sold auctions.That's in the neighbourhood of 350 million dollars per year net revenue. And one item posted per day per user is not even huge.If Diablo ever reaches WoW numbers, that would even be around 700 million. That' s half of the Blizzard revenue of 2010 (almost). Not bad for FREE to play game.

[Duckie]

Quitting my job and playing Diablo 3 full time. I figure I could make a hell of a living selling in game items legally!

[JohnnyTKF]

Wow... This is fucked up, although on the other hand, Diablo is gonna be F2P, and D2 already had people selling their crap on the Internet for money. I do have a doubt though, couldn't you somehow make some cash by selling an awesome item? Because I'm pretty sure things will cost a lot more than what Blizzard posted there. I did quit WoW a while ago anyways, so it's not like I care that much about what they'll do, and if I can make some cash farming this, I'll probably give it a try.

---------- Post added 2011-08-07 at 09:34 PM ----------

First off, you're going to get paired with people that have equal gear as you in PvP. So if you still get your poop kicked in after that then you basically got out-skilled, since being out-geared isn't a factor.

People will complain just to complain without even knowing the facts.

Also this, the new decision will kinda screw over the in-game economy a bit, but atleast now I might be able to make a real profit by farming.

[Borzy]

Afraid I'm going to have to agree that this only spells disaster.Ninjaing Im sorry to say is the only epic thing you're ever going to see ingame.

[Deleted]

Well, from now on your Blizzard account will be top priority for hackers, scammers and all other bad people. It is real money we talking about. Second, I think there will be even some real protests against this system, BECAUSE some kinds with no life will spend lots of time in game, BECAUSE they will be able to get real money. Blizzard will lose some interested people for sure. Not yet decided if I buy this game. I was sure I will earlier, but after this news I am not sure. Game should be game, not some thing to earn money. And off course, rich people will be better geared then poor. I won't buy items for real money for sure, even if I buy game. It will be social unfair. Of course it is said, that you can sell some item for game gold. Find such idiot who will miss opportunity to sell rare item for real money ? There will be no rare items available for game gold. Unless by mistake. I didn't expected such stupidity from such a respected company. That is poor decision.

[morbidjbyrd]

Activision.....darn money grubbers have forever changed blizzard. Can you imagine what their iil "cut" is gonna be on all those millions of transactions daily? Tax free in many regions, such as the US, I might add.

In a way it seems like a good idea, but in another way it just seems like it will empower the farmers....
They might not be able to get as much as they would on the "black market", but now they have a much larger customer base.
Of course, Activision now gets to essentially tax the farmers...and that appears to be the only thing they care about.

[Abandon]

Afraid I'm going to have to agree that this only spells disaster.Ninjaing Im sorry to say is the only epic thing you're ever going to see ingame.

I guess you haven't figured out that Diablo 3 is a single player game, then.

Well, from now on your Blizzard account will be top priority for hackers, scammers and all other bad people. It is real money we talking about.

They already are, arn't they? I would imagine World of Warcraft gold would be one of the more stable and attractive targets for these hackers. Also, people stupid enough to get hacked will be their top priority, as they always have been.

Second, I think there will be even some real protests against this system, BECAUSE some kinds with no life will spend lots of time in game, BECAUSE they will be able to get real money.

..so?

Putting in effort to a game will no longer be a complete waste of time. Oh no.

Blizzard will lose some interested people for sure. Not yet decided if I buy this game. I was sure I will earlier, but after this news I am not sure.

Well, that's one customer who has gone from yes to maybe. I hope they can survive this massive downturn.

Game should be game, not some thing to earn money.

Why?

Because you say so?

You better go shut down professional gaming and sponsorship as well, then. We'll wait here.

And off course, rich people will be better geared then poor.

Yup. They will be better in their single-player game which doesn't affect anyone else, in any way.

I won't buy items for real money for sure, even if I buy game. It will be social unfair.

Once again.

Diablo 3 is NOT AN MMO. It is a SINGLE PLAYER GAME.

Who do you have this advantage over? NPCs? Other people who are playing their own single-player game, which doesn't affect you in the slightest?

Of course it is said, that you can sell some item for game gold. Find such idiot who will miss opportunity to sell rare item for real money ? There will be no rare items available for game gold. Unless by mistake. I didn't expected such stupidity from such a respected company. That is poor decision.

Well, this entire thing is basically pointless. If you had literally any points for your argument there would be something to discuss, but your entire post is "this is stupid because this is stupid". If you are that upset about it, don't buy it. It won't affect anyone else in any way.

[Chri478n]

I guess you haven't figured out that Diablo 3 is a single player game, then.

you lost me on this comment, as far as i am concerned you can CO-OP with friends or just random people, doesn't sound like single player to me

[morbidjbyrd]

you lost me on this comment, as far as i am concerned you can CO-OP with friends or just random people, doesn't sound like single player to me

Thats like saying a FPS, first person shooter, obviously doesn't support multilayer.
Diablo 3 is a single player game that has multilayer functionality, as most single player games do.

But what does this have to do with Real Money Trade?