Will the release of Diablo 3 affect the WoW economy?

[mvallas]

I will say ONE thing that's not going to win favors from WoW fans (fans who ONLY have played WOW, and not previous Diablo games). is that those who like the "sandbox" features of WoW or a game like Skyrim might find themselves very bored as there's really nothing else to do other than kill monsters/collect loot.

There's no fishing, cooking, herbalism, mining, archaeology, pets, factions, minigames, vehicles, daily quests, reputation rewards, mounts, ect... it's just better gear and killing monsters add-nauseum.

I also question how many will want to play past Normal mode... I mean, look at WoW - it's already hard enough to encourage players to beat Heroic Mode without getting bored... and that's just difficulty 3! How many of them are REALLY going to run through every act 3 times on different characters on different difficuty settings... and then expect them to run a FOURTH difficulty without being sick of seeing the same damn things.

[Abysal]

Edit: now that I think about I think it will affect WoW's economies a lot for a while. Not because of the number of people playing D3 but because of the type of person. D3 is going to be hugely popular among the people on WoW who played the auction house to become gold capped. It's the power players of the AH who have the largest influence on the WoW economy. They manipulate the prices. They cause rapid shifts in supply of raw mats by buying up hundreds to thousands of stacks at a time. And it is these very people who are most likely to take some time off WoW to play D3.

If you're on a smaller server and you've noticed a few people who's names show up all the time on the AH and they suddenly disappear sometime next week, expect changes in prices to follow soon after.

[phoenixphyre]

Diablo is Blizz's first big game.

"Warcraft: Orcs and Humans" predates Diablo by 2 years.

D3 is not an Mmo and has an end point just like all other single player games (it is also a free to play game). WoW has no real "end" to it and is constantly played with other people.

D2 and LoD Until recently has had ladders and resets. You are talking about a game that has lasted 13 years.

No one ever said it will die, but dont expect what it has been.

You are refering to the end of cataclysm when most people are moved away to beta's and other games at the moment. You will still see people raiding, clearing content, and even progressing for the more casual players. D3 you can pause at any time.

I'm a fanboi of both games, but you truley under-estimate the Diablo series, which is fine. I'm just trying to say it will affect WoW, and probably more then alot of people who refuse to play it, will understand.

Until Mists of pandaria.

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Diablo 3 will effect World of Warcraft in such a way that it will give the people that feel they have nothing to do in game right now something to pass the time. There are plenty of hardcore D2 players that have never touched Warcraft. I have played both universes for years and enjoyed both of them.

There is some cross over. There will be some things that get affected by both. Warcraft will effect diablo and vice versa.

But understand this, neither will kill the other. It simply won't happen. Assume that the ~4 million subs in the north america alone bring in about $15 each month. That's 60,000,000 a month from subscriptions alone. Blizzard will do nothing to stop that inflow that allows them to make their games.

The only time you will see this change is when they have a new subscription based game that can hold the same numbers or a F2P game with a micro-transaction model that can mimic a similar inflow of profit.

Based on money alone, they will not allow Warcraft to die. Based on their love for video games they won't let money get in the way of making good ones. This is not a fanboy post for diablo, warcraft or even blizzard. It's a fanboy post for gamers. They design the game we play. They play the game they design though, remember that.

[Xerra]

I haven't played WoW since October but when D3 comes out I hope that I can nickle and dime some cash in the RMAH to sub for about one month every 5 in WoW, in one month I can see all the patch content do the raid finder see the story. Then jump back into D3 for more gear grinding and saving for the next patch.

[Christan]

This'll simply mean less goods produced, meaning higher prices.

this will decrease supply sure, but also decrease demand.

thus the holy trinity will be kept even price / supply / demand

1. if demand goes up, but supply stays the same, it means the price goes up.
2. if supply goes up, but demand stays the same, it means price goes down.
3. if 2 go up or down, then the third will likely stay the same, or go slightly up or slightly down as well.

so on and so forth basically... sure the economy will change a tad, less things on the AH, but also less people willing to buy them. gogo undercutting.

[Nerraw]

I highly doubt WoW will die. It will be a little less active for a while however.