Ragnaros US First Kill by vodka, Diablo 3 Beta, Auction House API, Artworks

Originally Posted by Nick7

Why?
Because I do not want to support Blizzard by paying for game which is endorsing such things as selling items and characters for real money.
I had 2 copes of D2, play WoW, have SC2.
But, D3 is where I draw the line... while I really wanted to play it and buy it, this will just make me get torrent of it, and play cracked version.
When this reaches WoW too (matter of time), at least this will be enough to make me stop play that too.

It is really sad when people feel the need to stop playing a game they like in order to make a 'statement'.

The Diablo III real currency option is AWESOME! I highly doubt I'll buy much on the AH but if possible I will certainly sell stuff, even if it just gets me enough to pay for WOW You'll only be able to buy stuff other people find, it's not like Blizzard sells every item in the game. Also if you have any idea how the economy worked in D2 then you should welcome this change. *Thumbs up* Blizzard.

ye SC2 required you to be online too and all of DRM games (see Assasin's Creed) but players have always found a way to break through them so I don't get why D2 will be the exception.

I wonder if they will do friends and family again, and then give out beta keys in BlizzconFor starcraft 2, they made you pre-order the game in order to -play closed beta, and for cata they did Alpha friends and family, closed beta, then release.

Originally Posted by Dragonwing

It is really sad when people feel the need to stop playing a game they like in order to make a 'statement'.

It's my belief that company that does this does not deserve to get my money for it.
Simple.

Originally Posted by Ixuzcc

Ubisoft tried this with Assassins Creed II.

The game was cracked shortly after. Took a little longer than usual, mind you, but it was still succesfully cracked not long after release.

Don't expect Diablo's DRM to survive much longer.

It took em too long. That would be a lot if that's the case with this game.
It's like FL trash farming. The first 2 weeks are the most profitable.

Mind you, there are people here who apparantly haven't played any other game but WoW.

What this shows is that Blizzard is leading the in-game currency model. They took ideas found in other free to play games and added to a subscription based (WoW) and a full pay (D3) game. Is it morally wrong for them to do it? Of course it is! Will it pave a new movement in the gaming industry? Of course it will. Why because everyone is just going to take it up the backside just because it’s Blizzard. Blizzard has proven to the rest of the industry that if you condition customers, you can get away with anything. This is Blizzard’s business model. And with the responses I have read here in the last few days, it’s a jackpot. Please stop being a lemming and realize that this is just the beginning. That more companies will start doing this spreading like wildfire to other parts of the gaming industry. Look at EA, a $5 deposit on a digital game that does not go to the purchase price of the actual game… I mean really! So unless you own stock in either Activision or Blizzard, this is not good customer practice. Sound business model, horrendous customer model.

You do not have to use the Auction House with real currency if you disagree with it. Problem solved.

Originally Posted by Altek Heresy

Is it morally wrong for them to do it? Of course it is!

How the hell is it morally wrong to allow people to earn some money off of a game they love to play? Hell, how is this even a moral issue? You're not buying stuff from Blizzard, you're buying stuff from other players. Do you appose the regular AH since you can pay to win through that as well? People have done this for years through seedy sites and people have lost money and had their identities stolen. Blizzard just said, "Hold on sonny Jim, don't go losing all your life savings on that random back alley site. If you want to waste real life money on pixels, we are giving you a safe place to do it in".

Originally Posted by starkey

Well it will end that way, premium service this premium service that, im still waiting for the announcement of $25 for moving BoA's to different realms, nothing surprises me anymore.

The only way to move BoAs to different realms already costs $25.

(Fairly low resolution, if you know where to find higher quality screenshots please post about it in comments)

theworldstonekeep.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/twsk-episode-30-diablo-3-media-event-show/ - They have high resolution gallery from press-kit. Also there is link, where you can download this press-kit, just click on "Image & FAQ Pack". They are one of sited that where invited to Blizzard HQ for the event, so they are legit.

Originally Posted by phillipisawarlock

No, the only way to play is to have internet access all the time.

Yeah, right.

It's quite naive to think there won't be a workaround on that.

Originally Posted by Swizzle

How the hell is it morally wrong to allow people to earn some money off of a game they love to play? Hell, how is this even a moral issue? You're not buying stuff from Blizzard, you're buying stuff from other players. Do you appose the regular AH since you can pay to win through that as well? People have done this for years through seedy sites and people have lost money and had their identities stolen. Blizzard just said, "Hold on sonny Jim, don't go losing all your life savings on that random back alley site. If you want to waste real life money on pixels, we are giving you a safe place to do it in".

How is this morally wrong? Let’s see you take a model that up to 6-12 months ago only existed in Free to play games and add a full retail value to it and subscription. Knowing full well that this model works in an environment where you do not pay full price first then milk your customer base with items that will have a direct effect on said game. They know this, I hope you realize this as well. They know it goes against the moral standards that are inherited into the current model of free to play. And they went ahead and institute it into their full retail game model to maximize profit. It’s pretty simple. Whether you disagree with moral conduct in this regard or not it’s your personal choice.
But I see it as a cash-grab with disregards to their fateful (often blind) fan base. And please keep in mind that this is just one door of many paths that we will see unfolding in the years to come.

I don't understand why people are so up in arms over this. If you have extra cash (meaning you probably have a job and can't play all day long) and want to spend money YOU earned on gear, you can. If you don't, then don't. Also, you'll be able to make some pocket money on the side. What's the big deal?

If you don't want to participate, then don't. But you're all fooling yourselves if you think the D3 economy wasn't going to be running on real currency anyway (gold/item bots and sellers). Blizzard is just cutting out the middle man and getting their just dues, since you know, it's their game and all. On top of that, they'll have less issues with people getting hacked when buying gold.

Again, it's a win-win. If you don't like the real currency system, then use the in-game system.

Grats to Vodka. Love the Lil' Rags. That's pretty funny on their end.

Originally Posted by Black Rider

Boub tell us something about 4.3 please...

This. I killed Ragnaros six years ago.

Originally Posted by CrosbyForMVP

I don't understand why people are so up in arms over this. If you have extra cash (meaning you probably have a job and can't play all day long) and want to spend money YOU earned on gear, you can. If you don't, then don't. Also, you'll be able to make some pocket money on the side. What's the big deal?

If you don't want to participate, then don't. But you're all fooling yourselves if you think the D3 economy wasn't going to be running on real currency anyway (gold/item bots and sellers). Blizzard is just cutting out the middle man and getting their just dues, since you know, it's their game and all. On top of that, they'll have less issues with people getting hacked when buying gold.

Again, it's a win-win. If you don't like the real currency system, then use the in-game system.

I will apologize of hand if this comes across as rude. But you are very naive if you think this will have any kind of effect on that. They can’t control the third-party stuff that goes on in their games. I Understand. Solution: Join them and disregard it all together for the time being. And yes, no-one has seen this function in action. But to say that it will not have a direct effect on the actual game is beyond my comprehension. Blizzard put that into the game, so it’s a big part of it. In the end, this is not the end all be all practice. This is just the continuation of things that because people let them, will lead to something even bigger than this. What that will be? Who knows, but we will find out soon enough at this rate.

Originally Posted by Dragonwing

It is really sad when people feel the need to stop playing a game they like in order to make a 'statement'.

Yeah because speaking with your wallet is not smart right?

Originally Posted by Altek Heresy

I will apologize of hand if this comes across as rude. But you are very naive if you think this will have any kind of effect on that. They can’t control the third-party stuff that goes on in their games. I Understand. Solution: Join them and disregard it all together for the time being. And yes, no-one has seen this function in action. But to say that it will not have a direct effect on the actual game is beyond my comprehension. Blizzard put that into the game, so it’s a big part of it. In the end, this is not the end all be all practice. This is just the continuation of things that because people let them, will lead to something even bigger than this. What that will be? Who knows, but we will find out soon enough at this rate.

I think when presented with a legitimate option, and an illegitimate option, most people will choose the legitimate one. The previous methods of obtaining those items could include giving away logins/passwords to less than reputable people, or going to potentially virused websites. Giving an incentive not to visit these websites definitely will help cut down on hacked accounts, as people won't have to go to potentially dangerous means to acquire items they would have otherwise acquired that way. Since that is a major source of hacked accounts, that number should go down.

I think your comparison of free to play economy is slightly off as well; in almost all cases, you are comparing the parent company for free to play games selling items in an "item shop", whereas Blizzard has taken the stance of never doing so. If they did decide to start selling items, I'd be rather irritated as well; however this is simply players interacting with other players with Blizzard acting as moderator, as they always have. They also have only decided to take a cut of the "action" for those who are using the "real money AH" to some considerable amount; ie. those that are "power sellers" and play the AH. Considering how much additional support it's going to cost to implement this, I'd say it's a pretty fair trade off.

And as has been repeated many times over the last few days, the slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy. As Blizzard has changed and reversed their stance many times in the past, there's no telling what their direction will be... and arguing that it will continue down a particular path is speculation at best.

EU pwnd US on this tier lawl!

btw is diablo 3 mmo?